text:
CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.64
The %fun statement starts a new procedure specification.
Green Card supports two sorts of C procedures: ones that may cause side effects (including I/O), and ones that are guaranteed to be pure functions. The two are distinguished by their type signatures. Side-effecting functions have the result type IO t for some type t. If the programmer specifies any result type other than IO t, Green Card takes this as a promise that the C function is indeed pure, and will generate code that calls unsafePerformIO.
The procedure specification will expand to the definition of a Haskell function, whose name is that given in the %fun statement, with two changes: the longest matching prefix specified with a %prefix statement is removed from the name and the first letter of the remaining function name is changed to lower case (Section 8.3 elaborates). Haskell requires all function names to start with a lower-case letter (upper case would indicate a data constructor), but when the C procedure name begins with an upper case letter it is convenient to still be able to make use of Green Card's automatic fill-in facilities. For example:
would expand to a Haskell function openWindow that is implemented by calling the C procedure OpenWindow.
would also expand to a Haskell function openWindow, but is implemented by calling the C procedure Win32OpenWindow.
The %call statement tells Green Card how to translate the Haskell parameters into C values. Its syntax is designed to look rather like Haskell pattern matching, and consists of a sequence of zero or more Data Interface Schemes (DISs), one for each (curried) argument in the type signature. For example:
This %call statement binds the C variables x, y, z, and s, in a similar way that Haskell's pattern-matching binds variables to (parts of) a function's arguments. These bindings are in scope throughout the body and result-marshalling statements.
In the %call statement, ''float'', ''int'', and ''string'' are the names of the DISs that are used to translate between Haskell and C. The names of these DISs are deliberately chosen to be the same as the corresponding Haskell types (apart from changing the initial letter to lower case) so that in many cases, including foo above, Green Card can generate the %call line by itself (Section 8).
In fact there is a fourth DIS hiding in this example, the (_,_) pairing DIS. DISs are discussed in detail in Section 9.
The body consists of arbitrary C code, beginning with %code. The reason for allowing arbitrary C is that C procedures sometimes have complicated interfaces. They may return results through parameters passed by address, deposit error codes in global variables, require _TAG_'d constants to be passed as parameters, and so on. The body of a Green Card procedure specification allows the programmer to say exactly how to call the procedure, in its native language.
The C code starts a block, and may thus start with declarations that create local variables. For example:
Here, x and y are declared as local variables. The local C variables declared at the start of the block scope over the rest of the body and the result-marshalling statements.
The C code may also mention constants from C header files, such as GREY above. Green Card's %_TAG_ directive tells it which header files to include (Section 11).
Functions return their results using a %result statement. Side-effecting functions, ones whose result type is IO t, can also use %fail to specify the failure value.
The %result statement takes a single DIS that describes how to translate one or more C values back into a single Haskell value. For example:
As in the case of the %call statement, the ''float'' in the %result statement is the name of a DIS, chosen as before to coincide with the name of the type. A single DIS, ''float'', is used to denote both the translation from Haskell to C and that from C to Haskell, just as a data constructor can be used both to construct a value and to take one apart (in pattern matching).
All the C variables bound in the %call statement, and all those bound in declarations at the start of the body, scope over all the result-marshalling statements (i.e. %result and %fail).
In a result-marshalling statement an almost arbitrary C expression, enclosed in braces, can be used in place of a C variable name. The above example could be written more briefly like this:
The C expression can neither have assignments nor nested braces as that could give rise to syntactic ambiguity.
A side effecting function returns a result of type IO t for some type t. The IO monad supports exceptions, so Green Card allows them to be raised.
The result-marshalling statements for a side-effecting call consists of zero or more %fail statements, each of which conditionally raise an exception in the IO monad, followed by a single %result statement that returns successfully in the IO monad.
Just as in Section 7.3, the %result statement gives a single DIS that describes how to construct the result Haskell value, following successful completion of a side-effecting operation. For example:
Here, a pairing DIS is used, with two int DISs inside it. The arguments to the int DISs are C record selections, enclosed in braces; they extract the relevant information from the WindowInfo structure that was filled in by the GetWindowInfo call.
The %fail statement has two fields, each of which is either a C variable, or a C expression enclosed in braces. The first field is a boolean-valued expression that indicates when the call should fail; the second is a (char *) value that indicates what sort of failure occurred. If the boolean is true (i.e. non zero) then the call fails with a userError in the IO monad containing the specified string.
The assumption here is that fopen puts its error code in the global variable errno, and errstring converts that error number to a string.
UserErrors can be caught with catch, but exactly which error occurred must be encoded in the string, and parsed by the error-handling code. This is rather slow, but errors are meant to be exceptional.


text:
Convener: Jason Mosley
Speaker: Hussain Abdullahi Mahmoud (Technical University of Mombasa)
The pastoral livestock trade in the Horn of Africa is highly dynamic. Animals are traded and moved within countries, across national borders and beyond the region for export – principally to the Middle East. The livestock trade is fluid, with changes in the direction of market flows. It is subject to movement or export bans, a shifting policy environment, and risks associated with droughts, diseases and conflicts. I aim to highlight most recent activities in the region's pastoral livestock sector pertaining to livestock exports, particularly focusing on Ethiopia, Kenya and Somaliland. While livestock export activities in Ethiopia and Somaliland receive national attention, these initiatives are being nurtured at the newly-created county administrative levels in Kenya's northern pastoral areas where they are perceived as pathways for demarginalization.
*n.b. earlier starting time
No prior registration is required to attend the seminar, but masters and doctoral students are encouraged to sign up to the online list of graduates working on the Horn of Africa: _URL_
If you would like to present your own research at a future seminar, please write to the convener:
Jason Mosley (_EMAIL_)
The series is supported by the African Studies Centre, the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the Journal of Eastern African Studies.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
YouTube has an interesting comedy slam page where users can compare two videos and vote the one which appeals to them. YouTube slam, which is categorized into music, comedy, bizarre and cute, is sort of a never ending addictive game where you watch bizarre videos and vote the ones you find interesting, funny or humorous. You get nothing out of this, except a mention as a top voter on the slam leaderboards.
But have you ever wondered how Google measures which video is funnier, which one is bizarre and which one is cute? What are the signals Google counts when ranking videos in the YouTube slam page?
Unlike textual content, Google and other search engines can't "read" the content of a video or see through it. The only way a bot can have some clue about a video is its associated metadata, the title tags, description, anchor text, links from other domains, user comments and so forth. This mechanism is often, not so accurate and can be quirked for selfish reasons.
Coming to how YouTube ranks videos in slam pages, a Google researcher admitted that there is an algorithm which tries to measure the degree of laughter associated with a video. The algorithm is not entirely driven by view counts or mere votes because of the fact that human feelings are subjective in nature. What appears humorous to one age group might be a complete turn off for another.
The funny thing is that the algorithm tries to extract "textual laughter" from the comments section of a YouTube video. Words such as "hahaha", "hehehe", "jajaja", "kekeke" in user comments counts as a strong signal towards the humorous nature of a video. This algorithm also considers web acronyms such as LOL, ROFL or LMAO and emoticons e.g :D, ;-) xP.
Google trains classifiers to identify funny videos and finds the reason why this video is funny and to what category or genre this video may belong to. The ranking algorithm is strongly driven by human reaction and their emphasis on emotions e.g a looooooool is considered a stronger signal than a lol because of the elongation which reflects the viewer's emphasis. Here is what Google says:
We noticed that viewers emphasize their reaction to funny videos in several ways: e.g. capitalization (LOL), elongation (loooooool), repetition (lolololol), exclamation (lolllll!!!!!), and combinations thereof. If a user uses an "loooooool" vs an "loool", does it mean they were more amused? We designed features to quantify the degree of emphasis on words associated with amusement in viewer comments. We then trained a passive-aggressive ranking algorithm using human-annotated pairwise ground truth and a combination of text and audiovisual features. Similar to Music Slam, we used this ranker to populate candidates for human voting for our Comedy Slam.
Now they are judging candidates for YouTube slam by how many "lols" are written underneath a video? Like this video which got more than 3000 comments and 1,566,000 views but it's not funny!

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Nigeria, Eq. Guinea sign oil fields deal
2002-04-03 17:34
Abuja - Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday signed an agreement for the unitisation of oil fields along their common maritime boundary.
Signing the agreement in Abuja, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Equatorial Guinea counterpart Obang Mbasogo said it was a testimony of the two countries' determination to solve all bilateral issues and encourage co-operation.
Obasanjo and Mbasogo called on officials of both countries and operators of Nigeria's TotalFinaElf fields and Equatorial Guinea's Exxon Mobil fields to ensure the smooth implementation of the protocol.
In his speech Obasanjo said that the agreements on the unitisation of the oil fields showed the determination of both countries to establish effective border management regime.
Such a regime, he added, would ensure a systematic approach to the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon resources along the two countries' maritime boundary line.
He said that they could work together to protect the economic and strategic interests in the Gulf of Guinea and added that the financial benefits would be used to improve the lives of citizens of both countries.
They also called on other African leaders to emulate their example and settle all boundary problems amicably.
Political analysts, however, question the timing of the agreement. They say that Nigeria is trying to refute neighbouring Cameroon's claims to the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula because it is a bigger country.
Nigeria and Cameroon concluded their five-week appearance at the International Court at the Hague last week, where they both stated their cases on the ownership of Bakassi. - Sapa-DPA


a very poor wall game. The strength of a character's wall
game is determined primarily by how much damage they can inflict while their
opponent is in a state of wall stun. Another less important element of a
character's wall game is how well a character is able to maneuver their
opponent into a wall. Wall games are very similar to juggles. Once you
are aware of which strings or attacks you can use to dish out the most damage
to a character in a state of wall stun you have mastered this particular
element of Tekken. Note that the height at which a character becomes stunned
will often result in being able to connect with a larger or more powerful
string. The time it takes for a character to slide down the wall after being
popped up into a wall adds to the standard amount of time that wall stun
lasts. This in turn allows for longer strings or slower more powerful
While Rising: While rising is a state you will often find your character in
either intentionally or unintentionally. You are in this state whenever your
character is rising out of a crouch into a standing position. All characters
have unique attacks or movements they can use while in this state. The
advantage of while rising attacks is that most of them are pretty potent.
They have nice hit properties and do decent damage. Many launchers in Tekken
come from this state. The disadvantage of this state is that your options to
act are limited. Some enemy attacks may force you into a crouched state that
in turn forces you into a while rising state if you dont hold down to remain
-While Rising, Instant: To use while rising attacks and options deliberately
and quickly you must use the command input of down+back to crouch and
immediately release. Simply tapping down will result in a side step rather
than a quick crouch.
Section 2
Basic Combat Guide
In the Basic Combat section of this guide I will cover the primary forms of
damage that characters in Tekken utilize. I will also touch on a personal
theory of mine that determines the strength and skill of a player.
What makes one Tekken player better than another? What does one focus on to
become a better Tekken player? The answer to both of these questions is
We now know that the primary function of the right side of the human brain as
it relates to growth and development is to find patterns in everything we
perceive. Some minds will perceive patterns differently than others, but for
the most part, less complex patterns will be more widely accepted and easier
to identify. Tekken is no exception to this. The creators of Tekken
perceive with patterns just as the players do. That said, we can establish
that Tekken like all things is a game of patterns. I have noticed in my
many online matches of Tekken that ALL players fall into predetermined attack
patterns. The main reason for this is again that the mind perceives through
the use of patterns. The second reason is that Tekken has a finite number of
possibilities for any given situation. These possibilities are vast, but
still limited and therefore easier to perceive.
So how exactly can we use patterns to improve our play? To improve your
offense in Tekken you should strive to identify your own attack patterns.
Once you identify your attack patterns, you can work on making them more
complex and harder for other players to perceive. To improve one's defense
you should strive to familiarize yourself with as many attack patterns as
Take a random attack string of your primary character and all the
variables of that string. These are programmed attack patterns already
built into the game. Even with variations the patterns of a single attack
string will rarely exceed 3 or 4. Because there are only 3 or 4 variations
of this attack strings pattern it is very easy for players to perceive and
defend against. To counter this limitation, we must deviate from the preprogrammed strings and create customized attack sequences. Focus on your
opponent's attack sequences, no matter how complex or random his attacks,
there must inevitably be a pattern. Even a button masher subconsciously
conforms to patterns when he presses the buttons. Because multiple command
inputs are not registered by the Tekken program, it makes the attacks of a
button masher seem completely random and yet they are not random. Because
Tekken is a game of finite possibilities, if you play enough players and
identify enough patterns in their play styles your defense will vastly
improve. Also, to maintain a strong defense do not fall into the trap your
own mind will sometimes set for you. I have been caught in this trap many
times and Ive seen countless others get caught in this trap as well. The
trap occurs when you get an attack sequence, string, or pattern in your head
and you try to connect with it and it fails. Your opponent sees right
through it. Many people have an instinct or a need to connect with that
same attack that failed. If this happens, you have fallen into the trap.
By revolving your play style around this particular attack or sequence or
what have you, even if only temporarily, you are simplifying your patterns.
By simplifying your attack patterns, you severely weaken your offense.
A recap... To improve your offense, make your own patterns as complex as
possible. Even if it means giving your opponent a momentary advantage, it
prevents them from determining what you will do next. After all, if they
know what your going to do next, there is no need for reflex or coordinated
skill. To improve your defense, identify as many patterns as possible.
The objective of any match is to penetrate your foe's defenses to deal enough
damage to deplete all of their health. So we are going to cover the primary
forms in which damage is dealt. Almost all damage in Tekken comes in 1 of 3
forms. It comes from either juggles, mix-ups, or the wake-up game.
Mix-ups are a direct representation of one's ability to create patterns. The
more complex your attack patterns the better your mix-up game will be.
Mix-ups are comprised of 4 attack types, high, medium, low, and throws.
The idea of a mix-up is not to hit with all of your attacks, but to hit with
just 1 of your attacks. That attack should always best serve your goal of
depleting all of your opponents health. For example, if your opponent has
most of his health and he isnt familiar with your attack
patterns you should use a mix up that will allow you to connect with either
a launcher or a knock-down attack. If however this situation is the same
except that your opponent has very little health, you should use a mix up to
connect with a single hit that is more difficult to anticipate or block than
a launcher. Launchers tend to have poor recovery, and are unsafe if blocked.
If you only need one more connection to defeat your opponent dont risk your
defeat by using an unsafe attack.
Here is a very simple example of a mix-up so you have a place to start.
Bruce Irving has a simple low kick called Trident Low with a simple command
input of down+right kick. Its completely safe whether it connects or is
blocked. Poke your opponent with this attack at every opportunity until they
start guarding low. When they start guarding it, use his Knee Launcher.
The command input for the Knee Launcher is back, forward+right kick.
This attack has similar range, and animates only slightly slower than the
Trident Low. On top of that, it uses the same limb, Bruce's right leg,
making it even more difficult to see coming. The Knee Launcher hits medium
and is a great launcher for high damage juggles. Congratulations! you just
mixed up your opponent. You used an attack the Trident Low not with the
intention of dealing damage with it, but with the intention of getting your
opponent to alter his defense. This in turn left him vulnerable to the
medium hitting Knee Launcher which starts a massive juggle.
So step 1 of our offense is to use mix-ups to connect with attacks that will
either start a juggle or start a wake-up game. The reason for this is
because your opponent has no options while in the air, and his options while
on the ground are severely limited. Just as importantly, in both the air and
the ground your opponent is unable to guard.
Juggles are a reliable form of damage for all characters. There can be no
juggle without a launcher, so that is the most important part of a juggle.
Different launchers allow for different juggles. The juggle command input
should be second nature whenever a launcher connects essentially making them
one attack. Almost all characters have 7 juggles on their command list.
Juggles themselves are very very simple because at most you only need 2
juggles for each launcher your character has. The first juggle for each
launcher is to deal as much damage as possible before your opponent is rid of
his incapacitation. It will take practice and experimentation to find
powerful juggles that you are comfortable with. The second juggle should be
used


MacArtney's MBES Hydrographic System for Island of Corsica
MacArtney France has delivered a portable multi-beam echosounder hydrographic system, designed for small vessels, to the French government organisation, Collectivité de Corse, in Corsica.
The Collectivité de Corse, a government organisation, represents the interests of the community of Corsica – a Mediterranean island off the south coast of France.
With 1000 km of coastline, the island attracts many tourists and cruise ships creating the need for an MBES hydrographic system.
The purpose of the MBES hydrographic system is to ensure visiting vessels can securely navigate the harbours of the island, monitor the seabed to control the quality of dredging, identify obstructions on the sea floor and verify underwater installations.
MacArtney France worked with Kongsberg, Valeport and SBG Systems on this project to fulfill the project specific needs and supply an adaptable MBES hydrographic system that meets the standards set down by the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO).
This new bathymetric system from MacArtney France will reduce survey time, increase accuracy, expand survey area reach and ensure a comprehensive hydrographic survey system.
Source link


text:
Magma Flow: How Does Temperature Affect the Movement of Magma?
How does temperature affect the movement of magma?
- Teaspoon (5-ml spoon)
- Soft margarine
- Small baby-food jar
- Cereal bowl
- Warm tap water
- Fill the teaspoon (5-ml spoon) with margarine.
- Using your finger, push the margarine out of the spoon and into the babyfood jar so that the glob of margarine is centered in the bottom of the jar.
- Hold the jar in your hand and turn it on its side.
- Observe any movement of the margarine.
- Fill the bowl halfway with warm (slightly hotter than room temperature) tap water.
- Set the baby-food jar in the warm water.
- After three minutes, pick up the jar and turn it on its side.
- Again, observe any movement made by the glob of margarine.
At first the margarine inside the tilted jar does not move much, but heating the margarine causes it to move more freely.
As the temperature of the margarine increased, it became thinner and moved more easily. Molecules in colder materials have less energy, are closer together, and move more slowly than warmer molecules with more energy. These warm, energized molecules move away from each other, causing solids to melt and liquids to thin. Just as the temperature of the margarine affected the way it moved across the surface of the jar, the temperature of magma affects the way it moves up the volcano's vent (the channel of a volcano that connects the source of magma to the volcano's opening). Hot magma is thin and moves easily and quickly up the vent, while cooler magma is thick and sluggish.
- Would a different heating time affect the results? Repeat the experiment, checking the movement of the margarine every minute for six minutes. Use a thermometer to keep the temperature of the water as constant as possible, and replace the warm water each time you make an observation. Quickly replace the jar in the warm water after each testing.
- Does the composition of the material being heated affect the results? Repeat the original experiment using other solids such as butter or chocolate candy with and without nuts.
- Thick liquids are said to have a high viscosity (the measurement of a liquid's ability to flow). Viscous liquids flow slowly, and particles dropped into the liquid fall slowly as well. Liquids such as water, honey, and shampoo can be used to simulate magma of various viscosities. Test the viscosity of each liquid by dropping a marble into a tall, slender glass filled with the liquid at room temperature. The slower the marble falls, the more viscous the liquid is.
- Demonstrate the effect of temperature on the viscosity of the liquids by repeating the experiment above twice. First, raise the temperature of the samples by standing each glass in a jar of warm water. After three minutes, stir the liquids and use a thermometer to determine the temperature of each. Second, lower the temperature of the samples to about 50° Fahrenheit (10°C) by inserting a thermometer in each liquid sample and placing them in a refrigerator. Diagrams and the results of each experiment can be used as part of a project display.
CHECK IT OUT!
The three distinct types of magma—andesitic, basaltic, and rhyolitic—harden into different kinds of rock. Find out more about the characteristics of these magma types. What is their chemical composition? Where are they formed? How does the temperature of each differ? Which is the most common? For information about magma see pages 74-79 in The Dynamic Earth, Second Edition (New York: Wiley, 1992), by Brian J. Skinner and Stephen C. Porter.
Warning is hereby given that not all Project Ideas are appropriate for all individuals or in all circumstances. Implementation of any Science Project Idea should be undertaken only in appropriate settings and with appropriate parental or other supervision. Reading and following the safety precautions of all materials used in a project is the sole responsibility of each individual. For further information, consult your state's handbook of Science Safety.


text:
After winding the lead wire around the core,
insert the 7P connector from the SP relay
PWB in the terminal PWB. (Perform the
above by placing the core around the place
shown). Be careful not to touch the screw.
Push the core of the SP lead wires into the
space between the shield case and the
speaker relay PWB. (The direction of the
core can be either vertical or horizontal.)
After passing through the cores, insert the
terminals in the 4P and 6P housings.
To avoid unnecessary radiation, attach felt to
each lead wire and fix it to the case in order
that the lead wires do not overlap each other
(to prevent the contact of each lead wire).
– 11 –
Mount the core to the 11P lead wire.


Auction 356 / Lot n° 1668
"Attack on Xiebulu", fifth leaf of a series of eight engravings illustrating a punitive expedition of the troops of Emperor Qianlong against Gurkha's army, during the Tibetan invasion between 1790 and 1792 China, Qianlong period (_PHONE_) The battle of Xiebulu is part of the Sino-Nepalese war (_PHONE_). When Nepal invaded Tibet, which was under the administrative rule of the Qing dynasty, it looked like a local conflict due to be solved easily. However, it eventually turned in a proper military action, coordinated by the Qianlong Emperor and his military officers.
Auction: 27 November 2015 at 10:30
Estimate € 3,500 - 5,000


is expression
From D Wiki
Revision as of 11:36, 16 April 2016 by NickTreleaven (talk | contribs) (add anchor for link to IsExpression)
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"is" expressions are used for checking for valid types and are heavily used in template constraints.
The following are simple demonstrations of the "is" expression, distilled from the main site:
import std.stdio;
void main()
{
 assert( !is(Foo) ); // Foo isnt a type, yet...
 struct Foo {}
 assert( is(Foo) ); // now it is
 short x = 1;
 assert( is(typeof(x) == short) );
 assert( is(typeof(x) : int ) ); // can be implicitly converted
 alias double MyDubble;
 void foo(MyDubble x) {
 static if( is(MyDubble T) ) {
 writeln("MyDubble is a double");
 }
 }
 // foo("hello"); // T is a string: fail
 foo(4.2); // T is a double: pass
 alias real MyReal;
 void bar(MyReal y) {
 static if( is(MyReal T : float) ) {
 writeln("MyReal");
 }
 }
 bar(3); // can be implicitly converted
}
A More "Complex" Example
A question was asked on DForum learning channel about how to create a template that would accept any numeric type including complex types. This author (User:Jniehus) made several attempts to solve the poster's problem which "eventually" resulted in a final solution that looked like the following:
import std.stdio, std.conv, std.traits, std.complex;
template isComplex(T) {
 static if ( is(T == Complex!double) ) {
 enum bool isComplex = true;
 }
 else static if ( is(T == Complex!float) ) {
 enum bool isComplex = true;
 }
 else static if ( is(T == Complex!real) ) {
 enum bool isComplex = true;
 }
 else {
 enum bool isComplex = false;
 }
}
template isComplexOrNumeric(T) {
 enum bool isComplexOrNumeric = (isComplex!T || isNumeric!T);
}
class Example(T) if (isComplexOrNumeric!T) {
 T k = to!T(1);
}
void main() {
 auto x = new Example!(Complex!double)();
 writeln(x.k);
 auto y = new Example!double();
 writeln(y.k);
}
This unsightly "static if" chain was used because a Complex type is actually a template itself which can accept one of three primitive types; double, float, or real. But as a more experienced D programmer (Artur Skawina) pointed out, the "is" expression is flexible enough to accomodate situations like this. So instead of writing a "static if" statement for each possible template type, we can use the following syntax to infer the secondary types:
template isComplex(T)
{
 static if ( is(T _ == Complex!CT, CT) ) {
 enum isComplex = true;
 }
 else {
 enum isComplex = false;
 }
}
This is clearly a more scalable solution.
Summary
"is" expressions might seem simple at first glance, but there is much more under the surface. The various forms of an "is" expression mean slightly different things, and knowing when and where to use them is important when writing templates. Also, familiarize yourself with std.traits, the most common type checks have already been done for you! If you want to see how they are done, browse the Phobos source for traits.d.


text:
On its Facebook page, See You at the Pole suggested that participants of the event work together to "start a prayer group at your school." They further encouraged students, "Thousands and thousands of middle and high school students across the nation have started a weekly prayer group at their very own schools."
Claim Your Campus, a ministry partner of See You at the Pole, offers an interactive app that leads students through the process. Students download the app and invite friends to the next prayer walk on campus. Groups of students are encouraged to "meet consistently and ask God to change your school." The app even guides leaders through the prayer time.
Students face all sorts of temptation, bullying, and abuse on school campuses. Claim Your Campus seeks for a million students to pray and "experience freedom, healing, and forgiveness." The organization "has seen students across the nation take responsibility for the issues at their school by humbly praying to God on behalf of their campus and peers."


page object with Playwright if sharing one is not an option (it usually is). You can test single-page applications without model classes, but they offer a significant productivity boost for testing more complex routes.
Generate Code by Recording Browser Actions
Suppose your usual routine when writing new tests is to open the browser developer tools and search for CSS selectors to add into your tests. In that case, you are delighted to know Playwright supports recording and code generation via a command-line tool.
If we want to record actions done in the English Wikipedia, for example, it's as easy as running the following line in your terminal:
npx playwright-cli codegen -o test.js
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
Using the npx tool part of Node.js, this command downloads the Playwright CLI tool and opens your browser in a recording mode. The -o test.js part is used to stream the generated code to standard output (your terminal) and save it to a file.
In the browser, let's now fetch a random article from Wikipedia, "read" it, and navigate back to the main page. After closing the recording, we have received this code ready to be saved for further inspection.
const { chromium } = require('playwright');
(async () => {
 const browser = await chromium.launch({
 headless: false
 const context = await browser.newContext();
 // Open new page
 const page = await context.newPage();
 // Go to
 await page.goto('');
 // Click text="Random article"
 await'text="Random article"');
 // assert.equal(page.url(), '');
 // Click //a[normalize-space(_USER_)='Visit the main page']
 await'//a[normalize-space(_USER_)=\'Visit the main page\']');
 // assert.equal(page.url(), '');
 await context.close();
 await browser.close();
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
What is incredibly impressive is that the code is clearly structured, annotated, and wrapped as an asynchronous instantly invocated function. It even suggests places for writing test expectations with assert.equal(). If you have Playwright installed globally or in a project, you may repeat the previous actions by running node test.js.
From here, you likely want to fine-tune the selectors to be more user-friendly, which is a trivial task given your application has a sensible frontend structure.
Portability and Automation
If you work on a general-purpose test suite, you may sprinkle a little bit of portability into the cake by using the official Docker image provided by Microsoft.
Writing tests is never enough if they only run locally. Playwright supports most of the Continuous Integration solutions out of the box, including Travis, Jenkins, Circle CI, and GitHub Actions. For the latter, you may also use the official GitHub Action.
Closing Remarks
Lately, I've started working with an extensive e-commerce application where a robust end-to-end testing suite is worth every penny. We have established an Azure cloud platform development environment and plan to run tests nightly and after deploying a new application version. This lifts tons of manual testing and stresses off our backs.
With Playwright, I drafted an initial test suite by recording a user flow and refactored it to page object models. After a couple of hours, I had a full-featured test suite which works as a regression test when I want to ensure my changes haven't broken anything. I have a new hammer, and I intend to use it everywhere.
Have you used Playwright for testing your application? Let me know in the comments how it went.
Photo by David Travis on Unsplash
Discussion (0)


automated inspection.
The advantage of response filtering is that the filter receives the actual material being sent to the client, regardless of where the data is coming from or what request was made. This advantage is somewhat illusory, however, because with current technology it is essentially impossible to determine through automated inspection of the data itself whether data is unwanted or not. For this reason, response filtering is relatively rarely employed.
positive
 - Inspects all content received.
negative
 - Requires significant computing power.
 - Can be subject to significant levels of under and over-blocking.
overall
 - One of the methods used by "smart" filter vendors but is generally very hit and miss and can lead to significant performance issues.
Pass-through
A pass-through filter is one which is positioned "in line" - that is, all data flowing between the client and the network flows through the filtering device.
The advantage of a pass-through filter is speed and simplicity. The disadvantage is speed because every single packet must be processed and inspected at wire speed, pass-through filtering requires a lot of computing power.
positive
 - Simple to manage
 - Provides good levels of control
negative
 - Can be a single point of failure in a network unless architected correctly.
 - Can be a performance bottleneck
overall
 - Good solution for an enterprise which needs higher levels of control over their network content. Be wary of the potential performance issues and costs.
Pass-by
A pass-by filter is one where the filtering device is not "in line", but instead is placed "beside" the main data flow.
There are two main types of pass-by filter - mirroring/monitoring and hybrid (more about Hybrid Pass-By later).
A mirroring/monitoring pass-by filter receives a duplicate of some or all packets passing through a router or switch, and monitors those packets. If it detects unwanted material, it performs some action to block or otherwise disrupt the particular request. As with a pass-through filter, a mirroring/monitoring pass-by filter must be able to inspect all packets at wire speed.
The advantage of a pass-by filter is that the tasks of traffic forwarding and traffic filtering can be split, with each device optimised to do one task well. The potential for filter failure to impact on traffic flow is also minimised. The disadvantage is in added complexity.
positive
 - Overcomes some performance limitations of other technologies.
 - High levels of load balancing and redundancy
negative
 - Quite complex to configure
 - Needs to be deployed correctly to allow for maximum load or could become a bottle-neck in high-volume networks.
overall
 - Good solution for network owners who need to maintain performance.
Hybrid pass-by
In a hybrid pass-by filter one system makes a swift but crude determination about a data flow, either sending it on unfiltered or diverting it to a second stage. The second stage then inspects the data stream more closely and takes disruptive action if an unwanted data stream is seen. The first stage may be a simple header inspection, diverting data streams that involve particular IP addresses, for example.
The advantage of a hybrid system lies in the fact that in most situations the vast majority of traffic is unremarkable and does not need to be blocked. Only a small proportion needs to be forwarded to the second stage, and the second stage does not need to be able to handle wire speed. A hybrid system is less effective where very large data flows must be diverted, or in situations where there is no swift and simple way to distinguish between data flows that need filtering and those that do not.
The first stage can inspect something other than the data stream itself. For example, in a technique known as DNS poisoning, DNS lookups are inspected. If the client was seeking a possibly unwanted web page, the request would receive a faked response that diverted its connection attempt to a proxy server. The proxy server would perform a more detailed check, and only fetch web pages that were not on a blacklist of unwanted pages.
Hybrid pass-by has a disadvantage in that it produces an externally visible topology change - if using a proxy, for example, all diverted requests seem to come from the proxy. That can be a bad thing, witness what happened to Wikipedia in the UK when BT started sending all Wikipedia requests via a small number of proxies (and therefore IP pool). Wikipedia thought they were under attack as so many update/change requests were coming from what seemed a limited number of systems and Wikipedia's automated safeguards kicked in thereby blocking access from those IP addresses, so while not a direct fault of the filter itself, the implication of network topology changes effected by filtering need to be considered.
Because proxy servers are typically able to filter only one protocol, they are almost always used as part of a hybrid system - a simple determination is made in the first stage, diverting all (or possibly only suspect) requests using a given protocol to an associated proxy server. All other protocols are passed directly.
positive
 - low performance impact
negative
 - can be quite complex to setup and configure correctly
overall
 - Good solution for network owners who need to maintain performance, providing it is provisioned correctly.
Proxy
A proxy is a system that mediates between a client and a server. Instead of connecting directly to the server, the client connects to the proxy. The proxy then makes a connection to the server on behalf of the client. This means that all communication between the client and the server passes through the proxy and can be inspected.
A proxy can typically handle only one or two protocols, and then only at the level of a particular application (typically, OSI Layer 7). Proxies are typically implemented in software rather than in hardware, so they are, in general, relatively slow. The best-known proxy in common use is the web proxy, which was originally developed to cache responses and thus save time and bandwidth.
positive
 - Proxies are a well known technology to network engineers.
negative
 - Limited in protocols handled.
overall
 - Solid networking knowledge and experience would be required to setup and configure a proxy server as a filter.
Deep packet inspection (DPI)
A packet being transmitted across the internet is composed of header information and a payload. The header is used to direct the packet from its source to the correct destination, analogously to the information written on the outside of an envelope. The payload is the actual content of the packet.
Inspecting the headers of packets can be done very rapidly, because all headers are the same (for a given IP protocol), and the format of the headers is well known. With deep packet inspection (DPI) the content of the packets are inspected, either as well as, or instead of, the headers. This is considerably more difficult, as relevant information may be spread out across many packets. The format of the payload is different depending on which application is sending the information. The kind of information sought and the tests to be done on it are generally more complex than the simple tests done on a packet header. DPI thus requires much more computing power than simple header inspection. As with pass-through, accuracy can often come down to how well the vendor has written their code to parse the information and detect content that should be blocked.
positive
 - Very thorough.
negative
 - Usually leads to significant performance impact.
overall
 - DPI is fragile and costly - filters for each protocol to be inspected must be independently developed, and must keep pace with changes in that protocol.
Last words
Filtering content is not necessarily a straight forward technical task, as many would suggest. There is a minefield of techniques and deployment possibilities - each of which has unique benefits and tradeoffs (and this is before the filter vendors themselves get involved in the equation).
If you are tasked with evaluating and procuring a filtering solution for your enterprise, narrow it down to the business' requirements for the filter. Work with your network architects and engineers to gain an idea of current traffic flows, and then consider the options available. Bear in mind the key considerations of accuracy/effectiveness and performance. And above all ensure that your enterprise has a comprehensive employee internet/network acceptable usage policy and that it has been read, understood and accepted by all staff regularly. The best way to ensure this is to have a popup stating the policy and requiring a check box to be clicked every-time the employee logs on to their terminal.
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Quick Answer: What Is The 20 Hour Rule?
Can NAIA offer full rides?
Few NAIA schools will offer full ride scholarships to athletes, but partial scholarships are more common.
While the NAIA may allow for a generous amount of funding per sport per school, it is up to the school to decide whether to fund scholarships in that particular sport..
Is the NAIA good?
NAIA schools are comparable to NCAA DIII schools, with the top programs being comparable to NCAA DII. … The competition level for NAIA schools is on the rise. Like many smaller schools, the biggest difference in the level of competition isn't how good the best athletes are, but how deep the talent pool is.
How many hours a day does an NBA player practice?
There is approximately 3 games a week so each game day is a full work day. We will cap it at 10 hours. (This doesn't include flights or travel). On non game days you have walk throughs or practice 90 minute walk throughs and 120 minute practices.
What is the NCAA 20 hour rule?
Under current NCAA rules, during a playing season and while school is in session, athletes are supposed to spend no more than 20 hours a week on required athletic activities. In sports other than football, that limit drops to eight hours per week during the offseason.
How many hours do high school athletes practice weekly?
10-12 hoursHigh school and college athletes typically reported practicing 10-12 hours, although hours did range from six hours (basketball) to 24 hours (gymnastics) per week. Those participating on club teams practiced less, averaging 6-7.5 hours per week.
What are the hardest high school sports?
How many hours do athletes sleep?
World class results demand world class sleep Interestingly, there is a clear difference between team and individual sports when it comes to how much sleep professional athletes require. Research shows that individual sport athletes sleep on average 6.5 hours a night while team sports came in at 7 hours.
How often should you practice a sport?
Formal training sessions are usually 3-4 days a week. Training frequency is determined by many different factors. Age – most younger children will train for their sport a couple of times per week and play once per week in season.
How many hours a day do d1 athletes practice?
four hoursOfficially, the NCAA restricts student-athletes' in-season practice to 20 hours per week, or four hours per day.
Do NCAA athletes get paid?
Under NCAA rules, college athletes, no matter what division they play in or whether they have scholarships, are not allowed to take money for appearances or to be paid for advertisements that trade on their athletic skill. … Scholarships for some top athletes pay for tuition, fees, books, and room and board.
How many hours does it take to learn anything?
The speaker, Josh Kaufman, author of The Personal MBA, explains that according to his research, the infamous "10,000 hours to learn anything" is in fact, untrue. It takes 10,000 hours to become an "expert in an ultra competitive field" but to go from "knowing nothing to being pretty good", actually takes 20 hours.
Is Division 3 or NAIA better?
Is NAIA or Division 2 better?
The NAIA is a smaller association than the NCAA, with just over 60,000 students. It includes two divisions (Division I and II) and Division I in the NAIA is comparable to Division II in the NCAA. Over 90% of schools in the NAIA offer scholarships and NAIA athletes receive an average of $7,000 of financial aid.
What sport is hardest to go pro in?
BaseballBaseball, easily is the hardest sport to go pro in. You have to climb up from HS to the MLB. This requires you to go to college and eventually the Minor Leagues.
What GPA do you need to be eligible for NCAA?
How many hours does it take to become good at something?


text:
Find a word
Dictionary definition for:
1. (n) a course of conduct; "the path of virtue" "we went our separate ways" "our paths in life led us apart" "genius usually follows a revolutionary path"
2. (n) a way especially designed for a particular use
3. (n) an established line of travel or access
4. (n) a line or route along which something travels or moves; "the hurricane demolished houses in its path" "the track of an animal" "the course of the river"
WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
1. Using the example of the cement company (C) and the laundry (L), explain what outcomes result when the cost of installing filters (for L) is $20,000, the pollution damage from the cement dust is $15,000, and the cost of new precipitator technology (for C) is $10,000. Consider all three rules for assigning property rights.
NO FILTER FILTER
PRECIPITATOR C: $100,000 C: $100,000
PRECIPITATOR L: $40,000 NOT
C: $90,000 RELEVANT
Rule 1: C has the right to pollute.
Since L can raise his profits by $15,000 when C installs the precipitator at a cost of $10,000, L must bribe C to put in the precipitator by offering him a side payment of more than $10,000 but less than $15,000 (say $12,500). Why? Because both L and C can be better off (i.e. have higher profits) when they voluntarily negotiate this solution.
Rule 2: L has the right to be paid compensatory damages.
C will voluntarily install the precipitator in order to avoid the payment of damages.
Rule 3: L has the right to petition for an injunction against C to cease and desist polluting.
C will be indifferent between voluntarily installing the precipitator and going to court and being forced to install the precipitator (if court costs are positive this will induce C to voluntarily install the precipitator)
Notice several things: (1) the efficient solution has been reached in all three cases; (2) C is the low cost avoider of pollution and installs the precipitator in all cases.
Rule L C Surplus L C
1 $25K $100K $5K $27.5K $102.5K
2 $40K $90K $0K $40K $90K
3 $40K $90K $0K $40K $90K
2. Using the notions of property rights and present values, explain how the following policies would affect the deforestation of the Amazon:
a. Suppose that there are no land taxes and a nature lover X wants to establish a wildlife sanctuary in the Amazon. After careful study X purchases a choice plot of land for $500. This piece of land will yield $100 a year from visitors for 10 years when the interest rate is 10%. Is it worthwhile for X to purchase this land?3. Explain why the clear-cutting of trees (cutting down all the trees) is a practice often used on public lands but very rarely on private lands. Under what circumstances would clear-cutting be a rational strategy?C = Cost of Land = $500b. Assume a farmer is contemplating the purchase of some farm land in the Amazon rainforest which is very cheap. He knows that he can get $50 a year in crops for five years. If the interest rate is 10% what price will he be willing to pay for this land?
PV = $100(AF[n=10, i= 10%]) where AF = Annuity Factor
PV > C so it is worthwhile to purchase this land as long as the owner has full property rights to the land and can enforce them. (This means he will be able to collect and keep the full $100 each year.) The rainforest will be protected in this case.
(1) Now assume that X must pay a 10% tax on the value of the land every year because it is unimproved. Will X purchase this land now?
Tax = $500(0.1) = $50/Year
C = Cost of Land = $500
PV = $50[6.145] = $307.25
PV < C so it is not worthwhile for nature lover X to purchase this land.
(2) Now assume a farmer Y is willing to purchase the land for $350 after figuring that he will be able to earn $100 a year for 5 years when the interest rate is 10%. He knows that his taxes on the value of the land will be reduced to 1% (a 90% reduction). Will farmer Y be willing to purchase and develop this land?
Tax = $350(0.01) = $3.50
C = Cost of Land = $350
PV = $96.50(AF[n=5, i=10%])
PV > C so it is worthwhile for the farmer to purchase this land and clear it. But he will move on after 5 years because nutrients in the soil will be exhausted after 5 years and he will seek another site to develop.
Result: Deforestation of the rainforest. Note that this land would not have been developed in the absence of the tax break for developed land. Note that the land is being used in a lower valued use because the tax discourages the higher valued activity (because it leaves the forest in an undeveloped condition). The example here is taken from real life. See "How Brazil Subsidizes the Destruction of the Amazon" The Economist, March 18, 1989, p. 69 for further details.PV = $50(AF[n=5, i=10%]) = $50(3.791) = $189.55c. Suppose the farmer knows that property rights are not very secure in the Amazon rainforest and that he will really only be able to get $20 a year in crops (the other $30 will be stolen). What price will he offer for the land now?PV = $20[3.791] = $75.82d. Daniel Benjamin writes that "the absence of secure property rights threatens forests by deterring investments in irrigation, terracing, and soil enrichment." Explain why this leads to the clearing of more land in the Amazon rainforest. (Hint: What happens to agricultural yields?)If the farmer faces insecure property rights (as in part c.) he will not be able to reap the full benefits of his investment in the land (others will free-ride on his investment by stealing) so he will under-invest (and in the extreme case not invest at all) in the maintenance of the productivity of the land. As a result of this under-investment, the productivity of his land will rapidly diminish (yields will fall), causing him to abandon the land and move on to another site to develop.e. A rancher is tempted to buy some land and raise some cows on it in the Amazon rainforest. He knows that annual revenues from ranching would be $1,000 a year for 5 years when the interest rate is 10% and that initial setup costs will be $3,000 plus annual costs of $300 for 5 years.(1) Will this rancher go ahead with this project?
C = Cost of the Land = $3,000
PV = $700(3.791) = $2,653.70
PV < C so the rancher will not buy this land.
(2) Suppose the government grants the rancher a 75% tax credit on all his costs. (Note: This effectively lowers the rancher's costs by 3/4.) Will he set his ranch up in the Amazon now?
C = $750
PV = $700(3.791) = $2,653.70
PV > C so the rancher will buy this l;and for cattle grazing and clear it. Result: Deforestation.
Note: Deforestation would not have occurred in the absence of the subsidy because the cost of ranching in the Amazon is too high to make it economical. It is the subsidy that makes it economical.
Using property rights concepts, we can reason as follows: public lands are not owned by anyone so that they will be treated as commons. This means that any trees that one company does not cut down (to allow them to grow into more mature and profitable trees) will be cut down by another company. In this situation, it makes sense for all companies to cut down all the trees they can as fast as they can. The result is clear-cutting. Such methods are unnecessary on private lands because the owner can exclude non-owners from cutting down his trees. This implies that an owner can postpone cutting down some trees to allow them to mature and will replace any trees that are cut down. Such results are possible when the owner can reap the future stream of benefits from the maturing and newly planted trees.4. The following questions concern the issue of takings:
Basic Note On The Economics of Trees
When young trees are growing, they grow very rapidly. Assume that such trees add 10% of their biomass per year. That means that a young tree is adding 10% of its value per year. If the interest rate is 7.5% then it does not pay to cut the tree down and put the money in the bank. However as trees mature they grow at a slower rate. Suppose that in 10 years, the tree is growing at a rate of 5% per year. Now it does pay to cut the tree down because the foregone value of the uncut tree is higher than the rate at which the tree gains in value.
a. Is the optimal dollar-value of takings positive or zero?
The text would argue that the optimal amount of takings is positive. The text's argument is based on the idea that a taking can be efficiency enhancing (i.e. there are net benefits from exercising the taking power). For the complete argument see the text and the argument developed in lecture.
b. Does your approach to the problem of takings depend on how many public goods there are


text:
- Conference date: 8−10 Jun 1989
- Location: Newark, Delaware (USA)
We show how the spectral analysis code ROBFIT has been used in analyzing gamma‐rays output from Supernova 1987A. The observations were performed using the GRAD detector which was on‐board a balloon launched from McMurdo Station, Antarctica on January 8 1986. A spectral analysis code, ROBFIT, capable of distinguishing peak at the noise level used to analyze the data. ROBFIT is a general purpose spectral analysis package which as been developed at the University of Florida.
ROBFIT represents gamma‐ray peak shapes and background continuum as combinations of spline functions. The background is fitted over the entire spectrum using a robust fitting technique. This removes the need to independently fit small regions of a spectrum which can lead to mis‐representation of the background under certain conditions. The code has the ability to model any peak shape as a combination of spline functions. Both background and peaks are adjusted simultaneously until χ2 is minimized. Then the background can be modified and new peaks searched for a new minimum found. This iterative procedure is carried out until a user supplied limit is reached. ROBFIT then outputs peak positions, widths strengths and their associated errors.
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text:
On Saturday's post we looked at color constancy illusions, which prove how hard it is to judge a color note accurately. There are various methods to overcome the problem, most of which involve isolating a particular spot of color. One way is to look through the hole in a half-closed fist. Another is to hold up two fingers spread slightly apart and look between them.
Other artists have developed special viewing scopes for isolating colors. You can make one yourself by painting a 3x3.5 inch card half white and half black. Then punch a hole in each corner. Looking through those holes allows you to isolate a given color against white or black. You can also compare two different nearby colors through side-by-side holes. You can test a mixture by putting a daub of paint next to the hole.
The limitation of any such device is that the illumination on the scene may so far exceed the range of your pigments that no single one-to-one match is possible. A related problem is that the tone of the white card changes as the illumination on the card changes, so you have to hold the card exactly at the right angle relative to the light to get a useful comparison.
Previously: Color constancy.


Java and its silly war against unsigned integers
Short story: Java hasn't (primitive) unsigned integers because Gosling thinks that too many programmers don't get what goes on with unsigned, what unsigned arithmetic is. Good solution: teach and make them aware, fix the problems of the education system which hasn't taught them, and so on. Bad solution: treat everybody as a stupid unable to learn, remove the feature and disappoint programmers who understand what goes on with unsigned, what unsigned arithmetic is, and those who think they can still learn. End of the story.
This is a signed 32 bit integer:
 int s = 0x801EFFFF;
If you want to get the higher 8 bit, you should do a logical right shift, that is, >>>.
The logical left shift doesn't exist — because it is the same as the arithmetic left shift; so we haven't problems, unless sign extension enters the scene. The first clue comes from this:
 byte x = 0xFF;
The compiler says error: possible loss of precision, and one may wonder why: 255 fits into a byte graciously. But the byte is signed, too: the higher positive value it can hold is 127. For this reason, 0xFF must be an integer, which can't be put into a byte. We can fix this by casting:
 byte x = (byte)0xFF;
But indeed this way we are hiding something. If we write
 byte x = -1;
Java doesn't complain, even if we know that -1 is _PHONE_ represented as a binary, that is, FF in hex. This makes sense1, but it's annoying when you want to manipulate bytes as "sequences of 8 bits".
It goes worse:
 int s;
 //...
 byte ba = 0x7F;
 byte bb = 0x7F;
 byte bc = 0x01;
 byte bd = (byte)0xFF;
 s = (ba << 24) | (bb << 16) | (bc << 8) | bd;
Now s is 0xFFFFFFFF instead of 0x7F7F01FF. This is because each byte "becomes" an integer, and being everything signed, it gets sign extended. Thus we have:
7F000000 | 007F0000 | 000001000 | FFFFFFFF
In fact -1 in a byte (FF) is still -1 in an integer (FFFFFFFF)… Also, consider that the shift happens after the sign extension.
To avoid these effects we need to mask the bytes we want. We can avoid this with the higher one, the one which gets shifted by 24 — but I do it anyway, so that everything can be aligned and looks like it looks for reson you can imagine; this is also why I write the wasteful << 0, which hopefully won't generate a shift instruction.
 s = ((ba << 24) & 0xFF000000) |
 ((bb << 16) & 0x00FF0000) |
 ((bc << 8) & 0x0000FF00) |
 ((bd << 0) & 0x000000FF);
On the other hand, if we keep our bytes into ints…
 int ba = 0x7F;
 int bb = 0x7F;
 int bc = 0x01;
 int bd = 0xFF;
 s = (ba << 24) |
 (bb << 16) |
 (bc << 8) |
 (bd << 0);
The literal constants are all integers, e.g., 0x000000FF. No sign extension. Easy. Here we are assigning constants; when we read or extract them as bytes someway, likely we need & 0xFF to cut everything an unwanted sign extension could have done.
If we need to deal with 32 bit (unsigned) integers, likely it will be better to keep them in long (64 bit signed integers). But this doesn't mean we need to be less careful2.
Now, suppose you have to read a 32 bit unsigned integer from a file, stored in big endian order3, to manipulate it later someway.
import java.io.*;
 DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(...);
 long x = in.readInt();
 //...
If this int is, say, FF010203, the variable x will hold FFFFFFFFFF010203, unless we do:
 long x = in.readInt() & 0xFFFFFFFFL;
The L is important, otherwise 0xFFFFFFFF would be an -1 (int) which will be sign extended to a -1 (long), that is, 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
DataInputStream has readUnsignedShort(), which reads a 16 bit unsigned integer and put it into a 32 signed int (avoiding sign extension, of course), and readUnsignedByte(), which reads a 8 bit unsigned integer and put it into a 32 bit signed it. readUnsignedInt() doesn't exist, though. The class should be extended (as Java can do, even if it would be better to do it like Smalltalk can), something like:
class DataInputStreamX extends DataInputStream
 // constructors... e.g., with BufferedInputStream, because
 // it is the one I'm using in my tests :)
 public DataInputStreamX(BufferedInputStream x) {
 long readUnsignedInt() throws IOException {
 return readInt() & 0xFFFFFFFFL;
Now you need to 1) complete the implementation of DataInputStreamX according to your need, 2) replace DataInputStream with DataInputStreamX everywhere you need it, 3) fix problems where they occur… In Smalltalk4 you would need only the point 1 and 2.
Dealing with data in Java is more painful than it needs to be. I am glad I am not alone blaming the choice of not giving Java the unsigned types.
And of course it's a well known discussion, and in fact you can find articles like this:
This is going to be a huge help when dealing with data over the wire and re-implementing algorithms from C.
The suggestion of naming variables with a final U or _U isn't a big help, indeed, and still there isn't anything like unsigned int or unsigned long,
Well, even in Java 8, long and int are still signed, only some methods treat them as if they were unsigned.
This is what Java has to offer, but not on its primitive types.
Once we are sure we have the right sequence of bits into our int or long, and we want to write it to a file, we don't need to worry about signedness anymore (but we need to choose the endianness we want, in case it isn't big — default for Java).
import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
import java.nio.ByteOrder;
//...
In both cases we need (int)x if x is a long.
Using a long for an unsigned int or an int for unsigned byte can be useful in situation where otherwise sign extension would be annoying, forcing the overuse of masking to obtain the right result.
If we're ok with just reading an int, manipulating few bits with ors and/or ands, and write it somewhere, we don't need extra care because of signedness. E.g.,
 int x = in.readInt();
 x &= 0x807F7FFF;
 x |= 0x00000080;
Good, old, low level days
In assembly, registers hold data, and signed/unsigned registers don't exist. In fact, signedness is just a "special" interpretation of a certain configuration of bits — according to two's complement. This interpretation isn't carved into the name of a register5: it is an action, and it must be done by instructions.
In order to treat a number into a register (or in memory) as signed, you must pick the right instructions which do so — i.e., instructions that implement their operations to consider the two's complement representation. When you use high level languages, compilers and interpreters do it for you according to the specification of the language (and the target CPU).
When you have, say, 32 bit registers, and you store into one of it a byte, and then you start using the whole register, no sign extension happens. You must explicitly do it.
In assembly Motorola 680x0 (the CPU which ran the Amiga and the Apple's Mac before they switched to PowerPC first, and then to Intel x86),
 clr.l d0
 move.b #$80, d0
 move.l d0, d1
A little explanation. clr.l is a clear (clr) instruction done on the whole 32 bit register d0 (.l means long, and on that architecture the long is 32 bit long…)6. By clear we mean to put all the bits in the register to 0. MC680x0 had 8 data registers, d0-d7. Imagine this in C:
 uint32_t d[8]; // just for now...
 //...
 d[0] = 0;
The second instruction "moves" (copies) the value 0x80 in d0. The move instruction doesn't care about signedness. It doesn't know what it is, it doesn't need it. It just copies the value. The.b means this: operate only on the (lowest) byte of the register. That is, no matter what the other bytes hold, modify only the less significant byte.
The last instruction


text:
Circling back to properties, when you set a value on an attribute or metadatum or author a relationship within a layer, you are effectively expressing an opinion on that value. This is named an opinion because value assignments can always be changed by others! This is a very important concept for composition.
A different way of looking at this would be that "setting a value" implies that that action is final and the value itself becomes immutable; whereas with opinions you merely mean
"Within this layer, I want the value for this to be
If the value already existed before, you are essentially "overriding" it


text:
Location: Tower Building – Applied optics office Room 202 or Ultrafast lab room 304
Phone: (0115) 84-67892 (office) or 95-15606 (lab)
This is a laser ultrasonics experiment where the project aims are to measure many channels of GHz ultrasound to help to improve data acquisition rates and to allow a wider range of experiments to be performed. This involves research into both electronic and optical developments.
Thesis describes the combination of an optical system and artificial neural network to dramatically increase the measurement range of the optical system. Track width structures as small as 60nm were successfully measured with an optical system of 0.3 NA.


One has a plural noun, the other singular.
There seem to be several idiom pairs/related idioms with inconsistent grammatical number. I am also thinking "on the fringe" and "on the fringes."
 - I suspect that the first is somehow related to handling animals such as horses. – Hot Licks Mar 9 '18 at 2:37
 - Unless you're in a rodeo, most people use both hands on the reins. But a firm hand may be needed when things get out of hand. – KarlG Mar 9 '18 at 2:51
 - if you are leading a horse people often use 1 hand – WendyG Mar 9 '18 at 11:31
They are two different idioms, the latter being formed from a situation in which one is unable to grasp something, even with both hands.
The difference between the two:
 - Get out of hand infers that the situation is out everyone's control,
 - Out of one's hands infers that one cannot control something that will happen.
| improve this answer | |
 - The OP is asking about why one expression uses both hands and another only one. – KarlG Mar 9 '18 at 2:30
 - _USER_ Thanks for the heads-up, I totally missed that. – Peter Johnmeyer Mar 9 '18 at 2:33
I think it has to do with the original idea of "hand" in the sense of "control" which contrast with "in hand" under control. In that respect, the usage of hand in the singular form is metaphoric and idiomatic:
 - Out of hand (1590s) is opposite of in hand "under control" (Etymonline)
From The Phrase Finder:
-Out of hand -- "If you reject an offer or idea 'out of hand,' you do so without hesitation. However, this phrase has several different meanings, the oldest of them being 'out of control,' from the days when failure to keep a firm grip on the reins would result in a team of horses being 'out of hand.'" From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988). Page 433.
The "out of hand = out of control or not being processed" meaning contrasts nicely with the "in hand = under control or being processed" meaning.
| improve this answer | |
Your Answer


, the following constraint will work if x is an integer column, but not if x is a bigint:
 CHECK ( x = 1 )

 For a bigint column we must use a constraint like:
 CHECK ( x = 1::bigint )

 The problem is not limited to the bigint data type — it can occur whenever the default data type of the constant does not match the data type of the column to which it is being compared. Cross-data type comparisons in the supplied queries are usually OK, just not in the CHECK conditions.
 - All constraints on all partitions of the master table are considered for constraint exclusion, so large numbers of partitions are likely to increase query planning time considerably.
 - Don't forget that you still need to run ANALYZE on each partition individually. A command like
 ANALYZE measurement;

 will only process the master table.
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text: The history of Holmegaard glassworks began in 1825, when Countess Henriette Danneskiold-Samsøe, decided to pursue the project of her husband, who died two years before when she received permission from the King to establish a glassworks. In the beginning, the factory produced only green bottles, but the Countess also wanted to produce clear glass tumblers, and the Bohemian glassblowers were able to manufacture these. The history of Holmegaard glassworks is a story of a small glassworks in a peat bog, growing to become part of a large modern group over a period of 175 years. During the 20th century, artists entered the equation, designing and shaping of Holmegaard's glass products. So the long and proud tradition started, and as a result, even to this very day, some of the best artists in Denmark are associated with Holmegaard's glass production. Holmegaard produces mouth-blown and machine-blown glass in accordance with the latest and most advanced production methods. Each piece of mouth-blown glass is unique and hand-made by the glass blower, who carefully blows the right amount of air through the narrow tube. This is why air bubbles in the glass are unavoidable, adding to the charm of mouth-blown glass. Machine-blown glass is characterised by exactly the same high quality and elegance but it is machine produced using exclusive, specially made tools.


text:
The fact that female wasp spiders have numerous sexual contacts is something which their male partners cannot prevent. What they can do, however, is ensure that no offspring ensue from these tête à têtes with their rivals: the male spiders simply place a chastity belt on their partner while copulating. The tip of their genital breaks off during intercourse, blocking the sexual orifice of the lady spider. Biologists from the universities of Bonn and Hamburg report on this amazing mechanism in the journal 'Behavioral Ecology' (vol. 18, pages 174-181, 2007).
When a male wasp spider discovers a potential partner, he turns her on by shaking her web. The female thereupon supports herself on her long legs on the web so that the male, who is much smaller, can then creep under her body. The rest works hydraulically: the tip of a transformed leg filled with sperm is inserted into the female's sexual orifice – like a ski boot in its binding. Wasp spider. Courtesy: University of Bonn. (c) Frank Luerweg
The female usually puts an end to the affair after a few seconds by attacking her partner and killing him if he does not escape in time. 'When the male detaches himself from the female, in more than 80 per cent of cases the tip of his genital breaks off,' the Bonn lecturer Dr. Gabriele Uhl says. 'The tip then remains in the sexual orifice like a cork, blocking it.'
Together with her colleague Professor Jutta Schneider and the behavioural biologist Stefan Nessler (both now at the University of Hamburg), Dr. Uhl has been looking for a reason for this genital mutilation. 'There are basically two hypotheses,' she explains. 'On the one hand detaching part of the genital organ could help the male to escape from the female's murderous attack. On the other hand it might be a mechanism ensuring that paternity is maintained, preventing or impeding further copulation by the female.'
Genital tip as a 'cork'
Even when giving her a quickie, a male transfers enough sperm to fertilise all his partner's eggs. However, if a rival male then gets a look in, his sperm cells compete during copulation with those of his predecessor. 'The detached tip might prevent subsequent intercourse, like a chastity belt,' Jutta Schneider explains. 'The first male would thereby ensure that all the egg cells were fertilised by him rather than his rival.'
In his diploma thesis at the University of Bonn, Stefan Nessler has been examining more closely which of the two hypotheses is correct. The result is that whether the tip broke off or not had no significant effect on the male's survival rate – but it did affect any subsequent copulation with another male: when the sexual orifice was blocked, the game was over after only eight seconds; normally male spiders copulate for twice as long. 'The results show that the blockage at least impedes copulation,' Stefan Nessler emphasises. 'Initial morphological studies show that the detached tip plugs the orifice so securely that the transfer of semen is probably largely excluded.' Dr. Gabriele Uhl with a poster of the wasp spider. Courtesy: University of Bonn. (c) Frank Luerweg
The researchers have now been able to show that other species of wasp spiders also have this 'plugging mechanism'. What they all have in common is that the female attempts to kill her partner during intercourse. 'We presume that genital mutilation only makes sense if there is hardly any chance of further copulation anyway,' Gabriele Uhl explains. 'The males show maximum investment.'
Dr. Uhl's diploma student Martin Busch is currently investigating a completely different strategy for preventing competitors from having intercourse: the dwarf spider produces a viscous secretion in its genital which it spurts after the sperm. This mucus plug blocks the female genital aperture so effectively that rivals can no longer copulate. Whether a mucus plug or the tip of the genital organ is used, the oviposition is unaffected by the 'chastity belt': 'for that the females have a separate aperture,' Dr. Uhl stresses. 'In spider species with only one aperture for copulation and oviposition no such contraceptive strategies exist.'
Written from a news release by University of Bonn.


(INIS)
 Kim, Daeyoung; Yoo, Jun Hyeon; Lee, Jeong-Bong
 2016-01-01
 Conventional ultraviolet (UV) lithography typically uses a photomask made of a fused silica plate covered with a layer of UV opaque material such as chromium. The photomask has passive binary patterns of UV opaque and UV transparent regions and the pattern is unalterable. We report a novel real-time dynamically reconfigurable photomask technology using a liquid metal (as a UV opaque material) filled in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, as a UV transparent material) microfluidic channels. We found that the gallium-based liquid metal (e.g. Galinstan ® ) is opaque in broad spectrum of light in the wavelength from 325 nm to 850 nm while the PDMS is highly transparent in this wide range of spectrum. We made both bright field and dark field microfluidic photomasks and transferred various patterns onto a positive photoresist. A 7-segment display microfluidic channel photomask was also fabricated and decimal numerals (from '0' to '9') were patterned with one photomask by dynamically reconfiguring decimal numeral shapes with on-demand injection and withdrawal of the liquid metal in specific segment microfluidic channels in the photomask. In addition, utilizing mechanical flexibility of the PDMS and the liquid metal, reconfiguration of the patterns in a microfluidic photomask under stretching was successfully tested. (paper)
 19. Magnetic properties of fcc Ni-based transition metal alloy
 Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database
 Kudrnovský, Josef; Drchal, Václav
 2009-01-01
 Roč. 100, č. 9 (2009), s. _PHONE_ ISSN _PHONE_ R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC 150; GA AV ČR IAA100100616 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100520 Keywords : transition metal alloys * Ni-based * pair exchange interactions * Curie temperatures * renormalized RPA Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 0.862, year: 2009
 20. Molecularly Imprinted Polymer/Metal Organic Framework Based Chemical Sensors
 Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
 Zhenzhong Guo
 2016-10-01
 Full Text Available The present review describes recent advances in the concept of molecular imprinting using metal organic frameworks (MOF for development of chemical sensors. Two main strategies regarding the fabrication, performance and applications of recent sensors based on molecularly imprinted polymers associated with MOF are presented: molecularly imprinted MOF films and molecularly imprinted core-shell nanoparticles using MOF as core. The associated transduction modes are also discussed. A brief conclusion and future expectations are described herein.
 1. Development of a thermodynamic data base for selected heavy metals
 International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
 Hageman, Sven; Scharge, Tina; Willms, Thomas
 2015-07-01
 The report on the development of a thermodynamic data base for selected heavy metals covers the description of experimental methods, the thermodynamic model for chromate, the thermodynamic model for dichromate, the thermodynamic model for manganese (II), the thermodynamic model for cobalt, the thermodynamic model for nickel, the thermodynamic model for copper (I), the thermodynamic model for copper(II), the thermodynamic model for mercury (0) and mercury (I), the thermodynamic model for mercury (III), the thermodynamic model for arsenate.
 2. GRAPHENE BASED METAL AND METAL OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITES: SYNTHESIS, PROPERTIES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
 KAUST Repository
 Khan, Mujeeb
 2015-06-11
 Graphene, an atomically thin two-dimensional carbonaceous material, has attracted tremendous attention in the scientific community, due to its exceptional electronic, electrical, and mechanical properties. Indeed, with the recent explosion of methods for a large-scale synthesis of graphene, the number of publications related to graphene and other graphene based materials have increased exponentially. Particularly the easy preparation of graphene like materials, such as, highly reduced graphene oxide (HRG) via reduction of graphite oxide (GO), offers a wide range of possibilities for the preparation of graphene based inorganic nanocomposites by the incorporation of various functional nanomaterials for a variety of applications. In this review, we discuss the current development of graphene based metal and metal oxide nanocomposites, with a detailed account of their synthesis and properties. Specifically, much attention has been given to their wide range of applications in various fields, including, electronics, electrochemical and electrical fields. Overall, by the inclusion of various references, this review covers in detail aspects of the graphene-based inorganic nanocomposites.
 3. GRAPHENE BASED METAL AND METAL OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITES: SYNTHESIS, PROPERTIES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
 KAUST Repository
 Khan, Mujeeb; Tahir, Muhammad Nawaz; Adil, Syed F; Khan, Hadayat Ullah; Siddiqui, Rafiq H; Al-Warthan, Abdulrahman Abdullah; Tremel, Wolfgang
 2015-01-01
 Graphene, an atomically thin two-dimensional carbonaceous material, has attracted tremendous attention in the scientific community, due to its exceptional electronic, electrical, and mechanical properties. Indeed, with the recent explosion of methods for a large-scale synthesis of graphene, the number of publications related to graphene and other graphene based materials have increased exponentially. Particularly the easy preparation of graphene like materials, such as, highly reduced graphene oxide (HRG) via reduction of graphite oxide (GO), offers a wide range of possibilities for the preparation of graphene based inorganic nanocomposites by the incorporation of various functional nanomaterials for a variety of applications. In this review, we discuss the current development of graphene based metal and metal oxide nanocomposites, with a detailed account of their synthesis and properties. Specifically, much attention has been given to their wide range of applications in various fields, including, electronics, electrochemical and electrical fields. Overall, by the inclusion of various references, this review covers in detail aspects of the graphene-based inorganic nanocomposites.
 4. Hydrogen storage evaluation based on investigations of the catalytic properties of metal/metal oxides in electrospun carbon fibers
 Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
 Im, Ji Sun; Lee, Young-Seak [Department of Fine Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea); Park, Soo-Jin [Department of Chemistry, Inha University, Incheon 402-751 (Korea); Kim, Taejin [Core Technology Research Center for Fuel Cell, Jeollabuk-do 561-844 (Korea)
 2009-05-15
 In order to investigate the catalytic capacity of metals and metal oxides based on electrospun carbon fibers for improving hydrogen storage, electrospinning and heat treatments were carried out to obtain metal/metal oxide-embedded carbon fibers. Although the fibers were treated with the same activation procedure, they had different pore structures, due to the nature of the metal oxide. When comparing the catalytic capacity of metal and metal oxide, metal exhibits better performance as a catalyst for the improvement of hydrogen storage, when considering the hydrogen storage system. When a metal oxide with an m.p. lower than the temperature of heat treatment was used, the metal oxide was changed to metal during the heat treatment, developing a micropore structure. The activation process produced a high specific surface area of up to 2900 m{sup 2}/g and a pore volume of up to 2.5 cc/g. The amount of hydrogen adsorption reached approximately 3 wt% at 100 bar and room temperature. (author)
 5. Brazing of Cu with Pd-based metallic glass filler
 Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
 Terajima, Takeshi [Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University, 11-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka _PHONE_ (Japan)], E-mail: _EMAIL_-u.ac.jp; Nakata, Kazuhiro [Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University, 11-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka _PHONE_ (Japan); Matsumoto, Yuji [Materials and Structures Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan); Zhang, Wei; Kimura, Hisamichi; Inoue, Akihisa [Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University (Japan)
 2008-02-25
 Metallic glass has several unique properties, including high mechanical strength, small solidification shrinkage, small elastic modulus and supercooling state, all of which are well suited as a residual stress buffer for metal and ceramic joining. In the present preliminary study, we demonstrated brazing of Cu rods with Pd{sub 40}Cu{sub 30}Ni{sub 10}P{sub 20} metallic glass filler. The brazing was carried out at 873 K for 1 min in a vacuum atmosphere (1 x 10{sup -3} Pa), and then the specimens were quenched at the rate of 30 K/s by blowing


Do sea urchin live in estuaries?
Sea urchins are saltwater dwellers, never found in bodies of freshwater. Various species of urchins live in all oceans throughout the world, though they are more abundant in warmer climates.
Do sea urchins have poison?
Yes. Sea urchins have two types of venomous organs – spines and pedicellaria. Spines produce puncture wounds. Contact with sea urchin spines and their venom may trigger a serious inflammatory reaction and can lead to.
Do sea urchins hibernate?
Sea urchins are incredibly resilient animals. They can survive off virtually no food, and it takes them years (yes, years) to die of starvation. Plus, in the absence of food they essentially hibernate.
Do sea urchins live in cold water?
Green sea urchins live primarily in areas with cold waters mainly in the northern hemisphere. Green sea urchins prefer living in rocky, or gravel areas, but they are mostly found in sandy, sea floor bottoms. Adults live in cold climates in water temperatures from 0 to 15 degrees Celsius.
How long do urchins live in aquarium?
Some research says around 30 years. They can live quite a long time (think turtles) if parameters are kept stable.
Is sea urchin legal?
Answer: Yes, sea urchins are legal to take in California with a sport fishing license. The season is open year-round for all species of urchin and the limit is 35 urchins (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 29.05).
What do sea urchins taste?
What Does Sea Urchin Taste Like? Sea urchins are full of sugar, salt, and amino acids, giving them an umami-salty sweetness. Like oysters, they tend to taste like the ocean they come from and the seaweed they feed on. (Uni from Hokkaido, Japan, for example, eat kombu, and therefore taste like kombu.)
What is the difference between temperature and urchin survival?
What is the relationship between temperature and urchin survival? … Although the sea urchins live in sea water in cold temperature, they require a temperature of around 23 degrees to cleave for fertilisation if this temperature is reduced the process of cleavage slows down eventually depleting the urchin population.
Where can i find sea urchins in florida?
Sea urchins typically live on the seafloor and can be found in shallow coral reefs, tide pools, seagrass beds and kelp forests.
Where do most sea urchins live?
HABITAT. Sea urchins live only in the ocean and cannot survive in fresh water. They are found from the intertidal to the deep ocean. The species that we are likely to use in the lab are either from the intertidal or the shallow subtidal.
When a sea urchin egg?
Male and female sea urchins are easily induced to shed massive numbers of eggs or sperm. The eggs are mature at release and are fertilized externally simply by mixing egg and sperm. The resulting embryos are optically transparent and develop synchronously in nothing more than sea water.
Are sea urchin asexual?
Sea urchins are capable of asexual reproduction only at the larval stage [14,15]. In adult individuals of sea stars, ophiuroids, and holothurians, it is performed through fission or autotomy.
At what period of life do a girl is already capable of reproduction?
Puberty. Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction. For females, puberty is marked by the onset of menstruation, an important milestone in their reproductive lives.
At which stage are the vegetal and animal hemispheres established?
The development of the animal-vegetal axis occurs prior to fertilization. Sperm entry can occur anywhere in the animal hemisphere. The point of sperm entry defines the dorso-ventral axis – cells opposite the region of sperm entry will eventually form the dorsal portion of the body.
Can i be pregnant if i got my period for 3 days?
Pregnancy. Pregnancy may be the reason for a "period" that lasts only one or two days. When a fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus, implantation bleeding can happen. This type of bleeding is usually lighter than a regular period.
Can a woman carry another woman's egg?
A surrogate provides both the egg and carries the pregnancy; she has a genetic link to the fetus she might carry. Surrogacy arrangements often are controversial and have the potential to be complicated both legally and psychologically.
Can u tell if your pregnant after 4 days?
While it's unlikely for signs of pregnancy to show at 4 DPO, some women report symptoms. Talk to your doctor if you're concerned about your pregnancy or have questions about conception.
Can you feel when an egg gets fertilized?
Can you feel when an egg gets fertilized? You won't feel when an egg gets fertilized. You also won't feel pregnant after two or three days. But some women can feel implantation, the process in which the fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube and buries itself deep within the wall of the uterus.
Can you feel yourself get pregnant?
Can you feel when an egg gets fertilized? You won't feel when an egg gets fertilized. You also won't feel pregnant after two or three days. But some women can feel implantation, the process in which the fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube and buries itself deep within the wall of the uterus.
Do eggs choose sperm?
Human eggs use chemical signals to attract sperm. New research from Stockholm University, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester shows that eggs use these chemical signals to "choose" sperm. Different women's eggs attract different men's sperm – and not necessarily their partners..


STH-10 - Sales Tax Holiday - Qualifying Computers
A computer is defined as a central processing unit (CPU), along with various other components including monitor, keyboard, mouse, cables to connect components, and preloaded software. While the CPU may be purchased separately, other items must be part of a bundled computer package in order to be eligible.
Items excluded from the holiday are individual computer parts, such as monitors, keyboards, speakers, and scanners when not sold in conjunction with a CPU; individually purchased software or other software not part of a preloaded software package on the initial purchase of a computer; storage media, such as diskettes and compact disks; handheld electronic schedulers; personal digital assistants (PDAs); e-readers, video game consoles; and computer printers and supplies for printers, such as paper and ink.
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text:
SSIIM Paper Series Vol. 14
SMALL-SIZE CITIES OF DIFFERENCE. An Exploratory Inquiry in Three European Countries
di Adriano Cancellieri
This paper is set against the background of the increasing cultural and ethnic pluralisation of European society. Research on the urban impact of international migration has traditionally focused on large cities and metropolitan areas. Nevertheless, while the connection between migration and global cities is relevant, since the 1990s, a growing number of migrants have settled in smaller cities and rural areas in several European and other Western countries. These small-size territories with large percentages of migrants face challenges that have remained largely hidden and neglected by research and policy. Minority ethnic people in small-size cities are invisible, and their needs and experiences are considered irrelevant subjects of enquiry.
Drawing from an exploratory inquiry in three different European small-size cities (Urbania in Italy, King's Lynn in England and Vence in France), the paper is part of a recent slight reversal of such a trend, by suggesting to integrate the literature on migration with the literature on small-size cities. It explicitly analyses how the 'smallness' of urban contexts affects the social and spatial inclusion of migrants in terms of migrants' settlement and local production of policies.
The paper analyses the common elements small-size cities face as a consequence of migration and points to further research directions as well as ways to convert some risks accruing from the presence of migrants into social and political opportunities.


text:
On Friday, 25 May 2012, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced the approval of the first Enterprise Migration Agreement (EMA) for Hancock Prospecting's Roy Hill Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The A$9.5 billion iron ore project will create significant benefits to the Australian economy through its capital investments, export earnings, and employment and training opportunities for Australians over decades.
What does this approval mean?
The EMA allows Roy Hill to plan its workforce needs from the start and take a project-wide approach to meeting skill needs. The project will be able to sponsor up to 1,715 workers for the three-year construction phase through the 457 visa program where Australians cannot be found to fill the positions. The EMA covers occupations such as electricians, mechanical fitters, scaffolders, and boilermakers.
As part of the EMA, Roy Hill is required to provide up to 2,000 training places for Australians (apprenticeships, traineeships and job readiness programs for indigenous Australians) and invest in excess of A$20 million in training Australians in a variety of programs.
Subcontractors will be able to sponsor workers by signing up to template labour agreements that will sit under the EMA.
Why is it important?
Through EMAs, major resources projects are able to access overseas labour for genuine skilled and semi-skilled vacancies that cannot be filled from the Australian labour market.
EMAs give guaranteed access to an agreed number of visa holders that can be engaged on a major resources project.
This will be of particular value to mining companies in ensuring that skills shortages do not constrain major projects and jeopardise Australian jobs. At the same time, EMAs will create jobs and training opportunities for Australians.
EMAs also enable projects to engage overseas semi-skilled labour that would not be available through the standard Subclass 457 visa program.
Concessions to minimum requirements, such as English language ability and skills requirements, can also be negotiated as part of the agreement.
If you are the project owner/prime contractor of a resources project and you are interested in getting an EMA approved, you will need to make a submission to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
If you are a subcontractor on a major resource project, you may be able to sponsor workers for subclass 457 visas by signing up to the template labour agreement that sits under the EMA.
To be eligible for an EMA:
- the resources project must have a capital expenditure of more than A$2 billion and a peak workforce of more than 1,500 workers
- the applicant will need to provide a comprehensive training plan targeting up-skilling of Australians to meet future skills needs in the resources sector, and
- the applicant will need to demonstrate why sufficient Australian workers cannot be found to fill anticipated vacancies in semi-skilled occupations and a commitment to ongoing local recruitment efforts.
To be eligible to sign up to a template labour agreement, subcontractors will need to demonstrate:
- a good record of compliance with migration and workplace laws, and
- training of Australian workers in-line with the project training plan and the training benchmarks commensurate with the standard 457 program.
Once the labour agreement is approved, the contractor can begin sponsoring workers on subclass 457 visas. The usual process will apply in relation to workers applying for subclass 457 visas.
Want more information?
For more information about EMAs and subclass 457 visas, please contact


Definition of haemoglobin in English:
haemoglobin
Line breaks: haemo|glo¦bin
Pronunciation: /ˌhiːməˈɡləʊbɪn

/
(US hemoglobin)
noun
[mass noun] Biochemistry
A red protein responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood of vertebrates. Its molecule comprises four subunits, each containing an iron atom bound to a haem group.
More example sentences
 - The key, she believes, may be the iron content of the blood and muscle proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin.
 - The main task of red blood cells is to transport oxygen bound to haemoglobin from the lungs to the tissues.
 - The red blood cells carry red blood protein called haemoglobin.
Origin
mid 19th century: a contracted form of haematoglobulin, in the same sense.
Definition of haemoglobin in: