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Role clarity on a project or a major bid is a critical element to success. Along with understanding the big picture and ensuring communication is flowing through the team, it ranks up there as a key priority you should look to establish as you form and develop a high performing team.
In terms of how you achieve role clarity, you will usually bring the key people in to a room for each area of the project or bid and work through the development of a role clarity matrix. The role clarity matrix is a visual representation of all the activities or tasks that are required to be delivered with the appropriate people assigned to support the delivery of these activities. From here, you then look to challenge the draft role clarity matrix around gaps, duplication and whether or not you have each person playing to their strengths. This step is often overlooked despite its importance in ensuring that people and sections of a project or bid are not working in silos or working in a vacuum unclear on how others can assist them in delivering on their role linked to the bigger picture outcomes we are looking to achieve.
The benefits of a role clarity matrix are significant, particularly in the early stages of a project or major bid. These include:
- The building of a self-managed and empowered team through documenting who is doing and responsible for what;
- Better allocation of resources playing to people's strengths;
- Faster team around decision making and authority due to minimised grey areas of role clarity across the team;
- Better accountability culture within the team through no grey areas in the delivery of responsibilities;
- Greater personal confidence for each individual knowing not only their roles and responsibilities but other team members;
- Greater communication across the team as people are encouraged to go to those responsible for activities rather than adopting an up and down check in approach through management; and
- A one team approach to delivery by working together collaboratively.
The benefits as you can see are significant. However, if you wish to take role clarity to the next level, you need to break down role activities between silos and teams where there are many people involved in delivering a responsibility, activity or where teamwork is required around collaboration and communicating what needs to occur. The last thing you want to do is set up a role clarity matrix where people are in conflict with each other to undertake a task. It is also challenging to address situations where no responsibility is taken for tasks or activities that require consultation or involvement from others to be successfully delivered. For this to be achieved, you need utilise tools like the RACI model which sets very clear expectations of the people involved in your bid or project from the start.
The RACI model allows you to break the role clarity matrix down to the sub-elements of each role around who is:
- Responsible – The person doing the work to deliver an outcome. They take responsibility for delivering the activity and is usually one individual;
- Accountable – The person who needs to ensure that the task is delivered even if they have delegated it. Again, one individual and usually at a senior level is often the manager who the person responsible reports to in the project or bid;
- Consulted – This is typically individuals who need to be involved in delivering the activity and usually have some technical, client or product knowledge that is important for the person responsible to work with to ensure the outcome reflects these inputs. They need to be worked with collaboratively and in a manner that reflects their important input; and
- Informed – This is usually individuals who need to be kept informed around the progress and delivery of an activity and has some buy-in or involvement that is important to reflect in the RACI.
Your RACI needs to be functional and effective. Some key tips you can use when developing the RACI include:
- Use the role clarity matrix tasks and activities as the base for the RACI to fast track its development;
- Explain the 'why' behind the need of a RACI model in addition to the role clarity matrix and the benefits it will provide to the bid or project team and the delivery of outcomes;
- Identify all the key individuals and their roles and list them horizontally up the top of the RACI ensuring you get thorough coverage across your bid or team;
- When working through the four elements of the RACI, you need to ensure only one person is accountable and only one person is responsible. This will ensure greater ownership and delivery of the outcome;
- Ensure you then send out the document to all people nominated in the RACI for feedback and consultation. This includes those broader than the responsible and accountable people as the person that need to be informed and consulted should have a large say in ensuring that you are consulting the right people for the right activities to be delivered.
Role clarity is an underrated area to focus on with your team upfront. Get this right, break it down through a RACI and watch your team achieve every manager's goal; being empowered and self-managed rather than deferring to every piece of direction and guidance they receive from management.
To get started, simply visit our website to find examples of the Role Clarity Matrix and RACI Model and start planning with your team.


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20 January 2022
What is Share of Search?
Share of Search (SoS) is a method of tracking brands and advertising accurately, using Google search data. It helps brands demonstrate a very clear relationship between advertising, search, and sales. Importantly, it's a powerful, leading indicator for market share*.
There is a simple equation to calculate Share of Search:
Searches for brand X, divided by Searches for all the brands in the competitor set.
By calculating Share of Search, you have a valuable metric for the demand side of the marketing equation. This includes customer penetration, brand size and strength, and short to long-term advertising. So, it lies somewhere between brand salience and brand consideration.
It also allows you to measure your brand interest against other brands in your category. Critically, you can track marketing activity and make strategic decisions in advance of predicted market share changes.
Why do we need Share of Search?
The short answer is accuracy. Historically, marketers have used survey data for brand tracking, based on questionnaires. However, the relationship between these surveys and purchase behaviour is often surprisingly weak.
As David Ogilvy once said:
"Consumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think, and they don't do what they say."
Google is the world's biggest database of human intentions. It offers marketers precision and a new way to track consumer behaviour. And it does this not on what consumers say, but on what they do. Specifically, what they do online.
So, search presents a powerful research tool. It provides rich data on what people are going to do, think, feel, and buy.
Marketers already use search data to predict what someone is going to do in the next few minutes or hours. But rarely look at timescales beyond a week.
Share of Search can be a predictor of long-term trends in market share because lead times can be quite long. A six-month warning that market share will drop, enables a brand to act strategically immediately to optimise its media mix.
The correlation between changes in Share of Search preceding changes in market share acts as an early warning system. Brands are able to forecast with a high degree of accuracy.
A powerful metric
Share of Search is globally relevant and equals Market Share across categories, countries, and languages (the ratio varies slightly). The correlation is dynamic, so when Share of Search changes, so does Share of Market.
A recent study shows Share of Seach (i.e. consumer demand) represents on average 83% of Market Share*. Other factors can also drive market share such as distribution and physical availability. So, if you test a brand against market share in a category, you will often see a positive correlation.
There is also clear evidence of a relationship between Share of Search and mental availability for brands. This is a great indicator for identifying trends in advance and acting decisively.
Applying Share of Search insight
Not everyone has access to market share data. This is why Share of Search is so important. It allows any organisation to use this proxy instead of an often expensive, calculation of a brand's market share.
Having this search insight data means you can see consumer intent accurately. It allows you to measure your activity and steer your business ahead of significant changes in market share.
Most organizations will focus on sales. For other sectors such as higher education, the key metric could be the share of graduates.
For challenger brands, Share of Search levels the playing field. With bigger brands, it presents a huge opportunity to verify key trends. Ultimately, it helps plan with insight to create the biggest business impact.
SeachShare is a new tool that calculates Share of Search quickly and easily, with tailored client reports.
Want to learn more? Sign up for SearchShare

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mace \Mace\, prop. n. [Trademark.] A chemical preparation containing tear gas in a solvent, packaged in the form of a spray, and used to temporarily incapacitate people, such as rioters or criminals, by causing intense eye and skin irritation; also called chemical mace. It is designed to be a non-lethal weapon for defending against violent people.
Usage examples of "chemical mace".
In drawers under the doors, Lanny kept boxes of ammunition, four-inch aerosol cans of chemical Mace, and a spare police utility belt.
Actual police uniforms, super-riot helmets, persuaders chemical mace, a knuckle sap, which is a glove with powdered lead, billy clubs, secret holsters, a three-in-one mob stick that spits Mace, emits an electric shock and allows you to club to death a charging rhinoceros.
The smell of chemical Mace was thick enough in the car that all of the windows were down a few inches to keep it from overpowering the KGB officers.
I had nothing but a small canister of chemical Mace in my medical bag.
Standing over him, grinning and holding an aerosol can of chemical Mace, was the dwarf.
Dane had had one serious attack before, brought on not by radon or sniffing glue but by exposure to chemical Mace some boys at his junior high school had been playing with.


J.R. Nyquist, Communism, and President Trump
Is Communism dead? If not, how is it affecting the USA?
On today's program, JR Nyquist, author of Origins of the 4th World War, discussed Communism and the current political climate in the USA. Former President Obama has now set up an opposition government 2 miles away from the White House. The former President is said to have 30,000 activists at his disposal, and 250 offices around the country. Their goal: to unseat President Trump and have him impeached. Will they succeed?
When patriotic Austrians prayed the rosary and asked God to drive the Communists out, they packed up and left in 1955. When Communists attempted to take over Brazil in the 1960s, patriotic Brazilians prayed the rosary to stop them, and it worked. When Communists attempted to take over the Philippines in the 1980s, praying the rosary stopped them.
Pray the rosary every day for the USA and President Trump.


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ACCOUNTING TERMS - ACCOUNTING DICTIONARY - ACCOUNTING GLOSSARY
From the web's #1 provider of financial analysis / ratio analysis
INCOME SMOOTHING Definition
INCOME SMOOTHING refers to measures taken to reduce the probability of income shocks before they occur, and includes strategies like diversifying income sources; making low-risk production and employment choices; building up physical, human, and social assets; and ensuring good financial management.
Learn new Accounting Terms
COMPLETENESS deals with whether all transactions and accounts that should be in the financial statements are included. For example, management asserts that all purchases of goods and services are included in the financial statements. Similarly, management asserts that notes payable in the balance sheet include all such obligations of the entity.
STANDARD DEVIATION is a statistic used to measure dispersion equal to the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviations from the arithmetic mean.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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Code of Ethics
Code of Ethics
Any person employed by the City of West Palm Beach who purchases goods and services, or is involved in the purchasing process for the City, shall be bound by this code and shall:
- Seek or accept a position as head or employee only when fully in accord with the professional principles applicable thereto, and when confident of possessing the qualifications to serve under those principles to the advantage of the employing organization.
- Believe in the dignity and worth of the services rendered by the organization and the societal responsibilities assumed as a trusted public servant.
- Be governed by the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and personal relationships in order to merit the respect and inspire the confidence of the organization and the public being served.
- Believe that personal aggrandizement or personal profit obtained through misuse of public or personal relationships is dishonest and not tolerable.
- Identify and eliminate participation of any individual in operational situations where a conflict of interest may be involved.
- Believe that members of the Institute and its staff should at no time or under any circumstances accept directly or indirectly, gifts, gratuities, or other things of value from suppliers which might influence or appear to influence purchasing decisions.
- Keep the governmental organization informed, through appropriate channels, on problems and progress of applicable operations by emphasizing the importance of the facts.
- Resist encroachment on control of personnel in order to preserve integrity as a professional manager. Handle all personnel matters on a merit basis. Politics, religion, ethnicity, gender and age carry no weight in personnel administration in the agency being directed or served.
- Seek or dispense no personal favors. Handle each administrative problem objectively and emphatically without discrimination.
- Subscribe to and support the professional aims and objectives of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, Inc.
Department Phone: _PHONE_
|Patricia Armstrong, Senior Purchasing _EMAIL_|
|Barbara Callwood, Contract _EMAIL_|
|Aisha Darrough, SBE Compliance _EMAIL_|
|Josephine Grosch, Senior Purchasing _EMAIL_|
|Maureen Hansraj, _EMAIL_|
|Monica Keel, Contract _EMAIL_|
|Tiffany McCray, _EMAIL_|
|Charisse Mayfield, Contract _EMAIL_|
|Nathaniel Rubel, Procurement _EMAIL_|

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
Show vertical scrollbars?
Specify how to handle an element that has too much text to fit inside its determined height.
Use one of these keywords:
|visible||The text simply overflows the bottom boundary and overruns whatever else is there.|
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Neurons that can multitask greatly enhance the brain's computational power, study finds.
The movie "21," a fictional work loosely based on the story of the MIT blackjack team that won millions of dollars from casinos across the country, opens in theaters Friday.
Throughout the 1990s, several MIT students were part of a team that used advanced card-counting techniques to improve their chances of winning at blackjack. Their story became Ben Mezrich's book "Bringing Down the House," which served as the basis for the fictional "21."
Most notably, the character played by Kevin Spacey, portrayed as an MIT professor, is entirely fictional. While his irresponsible acts may enliven the Hollywood script, they are entirely unrepresentative of the Institute.
Those familiar with MIT should not be surprised that its students are capable of the calculations and observations necessary to outsmart casinos. In addition to its global leadership in science and engineering, MIT remains a mathematics powerhouse. As just one example, the MIT math team recently finished third at the prestigious William Lowell Putnam intercollegiate mathematics competition, garnering 21 out of the top 74 scores.
And while shots of Killian Court and other MIT exteriors dot "21," the movie was actually filmed at Boston University, at the Christian Science Center in Boston and in Las Vegas.
The careful MIT observer will notice several alumni also have small credited roles in the film, including iRobot co-founder Colin Angle '89, SM '91, who provided the movie robot; Jeffrey Ma '94; and Henry Houh '89, '90, SM '91, PhD '98.


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NGUI – Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Engineering
The overall goal of this project is to examine the effectiveness of innovative building structural elements and systems, regarding their structural, environmental and energy performance in retrofitting of existing buildings. This will be done with the aim of facilitating the emergence of products and tools for the development of high performance retrofitted buildings in respect of sustainable development, in terms of design, consumption, building methods, materials, energy efficiency, costs and user comfort.
- Development of innovative technologies and systems for prefabricated façade elements for the building retrofit.
- Evaluation of the influence of advanced retrofit technologies on indoor environments, including health, safety and comfort of building occupants.
- Development of a standards-driven, systematic Building Information Modelling (BIM) approach to building retrofitting, with a holistic package of solutions for Ireland.
- Methodical assessment of Irish buildings from a lifecycle energy consumption and greenhouse gases emissions perspective.
- Development of socio-technical innovations and action plans for more sustainable buildings, primarily focussed on behavioural change of building users.


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Columbia medical device company Vasoptic Medical Inc. has been awarded a two-year, $650,000 federal grant to develop a portable version of its eye testing technology.
Vasoptic's diagnostic software can analyze pictures of patients' retina to determine whether they are at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy, an eye condition that can lead to blindness if untreated. The Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Institute of the Aging will help Vasoptic and researchers at Johns Hopkins University develop a specialized camera with the diagnostic technology built in.
Embedding Vasoptic's technology in a camera would allow doctors to test patients remotely, rather than needing to perform the test in an office where a computer can then analyze the data.
"The grant is about creating technologies that are focused on telehealth — so the ability to perform a remote eye exam using portable technology is kind of the crux of that," said Vasoptic CEO M. Jason Brooke.
The company will focus on tailoring the technology for primary care providers, to be used for routine eye exams.
Brooke expects the specialized camera to be commercially available in three or four years.


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Updated 01/09/2013 07:40 AM
Biologists begin crow hazing
Crow hazing is underway in Watertown. Wildlife biologists from Loomacres Wildlife Management are trying break up thousands of crows that are roosting in the city. YNN's Carmella Mataloni was at the hazing and tells us how biologists are trying to clear out the problem.
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WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- Pyrotechnics and lasers are just some of the tools biologists are using to try and clear out an ongoing crow problem within the city.
"When one bird finds an advantage, they all start trying to take advantage," said Wildlife Biologist, Cody Baciuska.
Cody Baciuska is the Wildlife Biologist conducting the hazing. He says with increasing temperatures in urban environments, a low predator rate and a section of habitat that attracts the crows, makes the perfect home.
"During the winter months is when they look for these advantages to monopolize to help them get through the winter," said Baciuska.
For weeks an estimated 30,000 crows have been found in various nesting spots.
Wildlife officials say with their techniques, they hope to disrupt many of the roosting patterns.
Biologists who are working on the crow hazing say that here by the river is one of the most problematic areas because of all the trees it gives crows more places to roost.
"Our efforts are going to reduce the number of them and split the flocks up. They are only a really big problem when they are forming the really large flocks," said Baciuska.
Wildlife officials hope these techniques will eventually cut the amount of crows flocking to the city in half.
Crow hazing will continue tomorrow from dusk until dawn to make sure the crows won't come back after they've been scared off.


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Purpose: SafEE (Safe and Easy Environment for Alzheimer's disease) is a French-Taiwanese collaborative project on technologies for health and autonomy, aimed at improving safety, autonomy and quality of life of older people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders. The Alzheimer's disease population is growing dramatically. In 2006, 26.6 million people were afflicted by AD, and the number could quadruple by 20501. Patients with AD and dementia, gait disorders, cognitive frailty, and memory impairments will increasingly become more impaired as the patients' illnesses progress2,3. Even worse is that AD cannot be cured, and patients rely on the drugs only to postpone the symptoms. Hence, the SafEE project focuses on specific clinical targets in three domains: behavior, motricity and cognition, merges assessment and non-pharmacological help/interventions; and proposes easy ICT device solutions for the end users. Method: SafEE is a 3-year project involving industrial and university partners. In this project, an ICT-based behavior analysis platform had been developed. This platform is able to detect, recognize, and assess walking/balancing capabilities, orientation and procedural memory. A device consisting of a triaxial accelerometer, a uniaxial gyroscope, and a biaxial gyroscope was developed to collect the signals while participants walked and took some balance tests. In this project, participants are patients with Alzheimer's disease and healthy people. We asked participants to complete single-task and dual-task activities while walking. The balance tests included four subtests: (i) basic balance tests, (ii) single-leg balance tests, (iii) Timed Up-and-Go test, and (iv) repeated chair stands test. In the basic balance tests, participants were asked to engage in specific movements, including the side by side stand and semi-tandem stand. Each of the tests was completed open eyed and close eyed. In the single-leg balance tests, participants needed to stand on one foot (right and left, in respective tests) with open eyes, for 10 seconds or less if the patient encountered difficulties. In the Time-Up and Go Test (TUGT), participants were asked to stand up from an armchair, walk 3 meters, turn, walk back, and sit down on the armchair. In the repeated chair stands test, the examiner asked the participant to make the first chair stand, from sit to stand position without using their arms. The examiner then asked the participant to do the same action 5 times in a row. Results & Discussion: Preliminary results show that an automated detection algorithm can accurately detect the patients' stride and gait parameters (e.g., stride length, stride frequency) using the wearable device we developed. The results also show that the AD patients have poor performance in the semitandem stand (both the left foot in front and right foot in front). In the repeated chair stands test and TUGT, AD patients needed more time to complete the tests than healthy people.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biomedical Engineering
- Geriatrics and Gerontology


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Federal Food Aid Recipients Double Their Money at Local Farmers' Markets
May 8, 2012
Author: Christine Lepisto
An oft-heard complaint about "green" eating: high quality natural foods cost too much, remaining out of reach for people of limited means. On the other hand, concerns about nutritional value in the diets of the less fortunate have led to proposed bans on using food stamps for sugary soda drinks or junk food.
Double Up Food Bucks for Healthy, Local Food for All
The Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program, entering its fourth year in Michigan, solves both issues with a constructive solution benefiting both recipients of assistance from the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), and local farmers.
The recently published Double Up Food Bucks Evaluation Report (pdf), provides proof that this ingenious program works. USDA statistics indicate that over $1 million of SNAP benefits were spent at Farmer's markets in Michigan. Using USDA data on SNAP benefits by state, we calculate that on a basis adjusted to total benefits per state this represents four times as much use of benefits at farmers' markets as the runner-up Midwestern state, Minnesota, and over 25 times the amount of Indiana SNAP going to locally grown natural foods available at farmers' markets.
More importantly, spending of SNAP benefits at Michigan farmers' markets has grown from a paltry $34,615 in 2009 to over a million dollars in 2011. While this is still less than half a percent of overall SNAP benefits in Michigan, it represents impressive growth that should continue as word of the program spreads.
How Double Up Food Bucks Works
Use of SNAP funds at farmers' markets around the United States has grown as vendors have sought creative ways to accept the SNAP debit cards. DUFB expands on this: SNAP debit cards can be presented at a booth at participating food markets, where recipients receive tokens that can be exchanged for foodstuffs. Under DUFB, up to $20 of additional tokens are distributed, one for each SNAP dollar used. DUFB tokens can be used only for Michigan grown fruits and vegetables, recirculating local assistance funds into the local economy.
This brilliant idea needs to be spread as widely as possible. At a time when all levels of government are seeking to use funding sensibly, trying to eke maximum returns out of their programs, the Double Up Food Bucks model cannot be ignored.
Thanks to Caroline DeVries for the tip on DUFB, and for spreading the word on good food programs.
Originally posted on Treehugger.com.


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(Washington, DC) — Uninsured Americans skipping out on their hospital bills are costing the U.S. as much as 49-billion dollars a year. A new study by the Department of Health and Human Servicesshows families without health insurance only pay off an average of 12-percent of their hospital tabs. Researchers say the problem is not confined to those living below the poverty line. Families with household incomes totalling more than 400-percent of the poverty level pay off only about 37-percent of their hospital bills. The Department says the study shows that even Americans earning large incomes are struggling to meet the high costs of health care. They add that it shows the importance of health insurance for all Americans.
Source: Metro Networks Inc.


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on the pictures
|Florentine Codex, Page I, F, 6r.|
| A heart sacrifice is
done before the altar of
an earth or underworld deity with a ferocious
image. The sacrificial priest wears black body
paint. Below, two worshippers carrying white
incense pouches pierce their tongues and
ears with large bone awls. On their right, a
ball of copal burns above an offering of paper.
| The great droughts of _PHONE_ led to
massive sacrifice of children to
water deities. Telleriano-Remensis Codex.
| Tlatelolco. The remains of 41 sacrificial
victims. 30 infants and
the rest youths and adults found at the foot of the stairway of
the Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl temple.
ARTIFACTS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN SACRIFICE
Aztec Cannibalism: An Ecological Necessity?
The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice
The Incidence and Significance of Disease among the Aztecs and Related Tribes


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Awesome Monogram Font Generator – Monogram is any different graphemes or actually a theme. Monograms are a branding element that showcase family style or your personal. Earmarked for the privileged, the monogram is a decorating tool that every one can use. The monogram of an individual is frequently a very elaborate artwork such as example luggage, such as embroidery on clothing, and so forth employed for stationery. These monograms might have three letters or two. A enduring and popular part of monograms is the using letters found to make acronyms.
Fashion businesses have a monogram for a symbol, Athletes have been proven to brand product with their monogram logo. Engaged or married couples can use two-letter monograms of these initials. People may also cause monograms incorporating the initial of these surname that is shared. Where they are sometimes found in several of distinct positions, monograms can be found on custom dress shirts. Some personal monograms recognizable to many and have become famous symbols within their very best.
Roger Federer Logo Font from monogram font generator, source: fontmeme.com
Round Monogram 4 Letter Sport Vector Font 4 letter alphabet from monogram font generator, source: etsy.com
Additional that a monogram is a form of personal branding composed of 1 or more letters, an average of initials, that could possibly be intertwined including those that you see from marriage designs and crests. It may be simple or complex, fun or elegant. It's a great way to catch your personality. Here we have compiled some Monogram Designs which can inspire you. Let us check them out!


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How to Identify a Dragonfly
Field guides have long helped nurture nature lovers' passion for birds, and more recently butterflies. Now, they're helping people explore the astounding diversity of dragonflies and damselflies. Whether you're a longtime birder looking to tackle a new type of life list, a practiced dragonfly watcher craving for more information, or a novice who's interest in the darting, zipping jewels has just been sparked, there's a guide for you. Here, Audubon offers a selection of field guides for dragonfly enthusiasts, ranging from expert to beginner, and specific region to the entire continent.
Blair Nikula, Jackie Sones, Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes
Little, Brown and Company, 150 pages, $9.99
Lightweight and portable, this guide can fit in a pocket or daypack for use in the field. The opening pages provide general information about dragonfly biology, and give tips on what to look for to aid identification. Species are organized into like groups, with a checklist in front to point readers in the right section. Although it doesn't cover every species, this book is a perfect introductory guide to dragonfly and damselfly identification.
By Sidney W. Dunkle
Oxford University Press, 266 pages, $29.95
Getting up close to identify flighty dragonflies can be difficult, so binoculars are an indispensible tool to help pinpoint a species from afar. In addition to the standard identification information, Dragonflies through Binoculars offers advice on different types of optics, and how to best use them to identify dragonflies. Dunkle, a biologist at Collin County Community College in Texas, also includes tips on where to find dragonflies. The guide's index doubles as a built-in checklist for enthusiasts to keep track of species they have spotted.
By Ed Lam
Biodiversity Books, 96 pages, $25
If your interest extends to damsels, not dragons, Damselflies of the Northeast: A Guide to the Species of Eastern Canada & the Northeastern United States is your go-to guide. An artist and authority on odes, Ed Lam's illustrations are both beautiful and extremely useful. Experts will enjoy the wealth of technical detail, while beginners will appreciate the tips to distinguish between similar species. Helpfully, Lam notes if a species can be identified in the field, or if capture and up-close inspection are optimal to pinpoint a species.
By Dennis Paulson
Princeton University Press, 576 pages, $29.95
Odonatologist Dennis Paulson's Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East is a great all-in-one guide to the 336 species in the eastern United States and Canada. The book contains helpful illustrations of the anatomical parts necessary for identification, in addition to large color photographs of each species. Also included is a glossary and index for quick navigation. Especially useful is the natural history section, which notes each species' unique behavior for better identification.
By Dennis Paulson
Princeton University Press, 536 pages, $29.95
The companion to the eastern edition, Dennis Paulson's guide features all 348 species of dragonfly and damselfly west of the Mississippi River. The book contains large color photographs of both males and females for each species, in addition to the standard species description, identification tips, habitat, and range. Like the eastern version, it has a section on odes natural history, with detailed notes on the unique behavior of each species.
By Giff Beaton
University of Georgia Press, 368 pages, $24.95
Covering southeastern species found north of Florida, naturalist Giff Beaton's guide is perfect for dragonfly enthusiasts living in Georgia and neighboring states. The text covers the 150 most common species in the region, many of which are found in the Mid-Atlantic States and Florida as well. Large color photographs make for easy identification, and the guide also includes information on flight seasons, range, similar species, habitat, and behavior.
By John C. Abbott
Princeton University Press, 360 pages, $39.50
Dragonfly lovers of the south-central United States now have a guide all their own. This comprehensive tome includes the 263 species of dragonflies and damselflies that inhabit Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Covering more than half of North America's species, it's also useful outside of the south-central states. Entomologist John Abbott's weighty guide is for serious enthusiasts, and includes a checklist, large bibliography, and helpful range maps.
By Kathy Biggs
Azalea Creek Publishing, 128 pages, $9.95
Naturalist Kathy Bigg's beginner-friendly book covers the 113 species of dragonflies and damselflies of California. The guide features a bold line showing the length of each species, to help compare dragonflies of different sizes. Color photographs of both males and females are included. The descriptions are detailed but succinct, so it's light enough to carry into the outdoors. Beginners will also appreciate the explanations of technical terms included in the glossary.


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How much is 75 percent off 43000
How to calculate 75 percent-off $43000. How to figure out percentages off a price. Using this calculator you will find that the amount after the discount is $10750. To find any discount, just use our Discount Calculator below.
Percent-off Calculator?Please change the values of the two first boxes below and get answers to any combination of values.
Original price: $
Discount percentage: %
Final Price: $
Using this calculator you can find the discount value and the discounted price of an item. It is helpfull to answer questions like:
- What is 75 percent (%) off $43000?
- How much will you pay for an item where the original price before discount is $43000 when discounted 75 percent (%)? What is the final or sale price?
- $32250 is what percent off $43000?
To calculate discount it is ease by using the following formulas:
- Amount Saved = Orig. Price x Discount % / 100 (a)
- Sale Price = Orig. Price - Amount Saved (b)
How to calculate 75 Percent-off
Now, let's solve the questions stated above:
1) What is 75 percent off $43000? Find the amount of discount.
Suppose you have a Kohls coupon of $43000 and you want to know how much you will save for an item if the discount is 75 percent.
Replacing the given values in formula (a) we have:
Amount Saved = Original Price x Discount in Percent / 100. So,
Amount Saved = 43000 x 75 / 100
Amount Saved = _PHONE_ / 100
Amount Saved = $32250 (answer).
In other words, a 75% discount for a item with original price of $43000 is equal to $32250 (Amount Saved).
Note that to find the amount saved, just multiply it by the percentage and divide by 100.
2) How much to pay for an item of $43000 when discounted 75 percent (%)? What is item's sale price?
Suppose you have a L.L. Bean coupon of $43000 and you want to know the final or sale price if the discount is 75 percent.
Using the formula (b) and replacing the given values:
Sale Price = Original Price - Amount Saved. So,
Sale Price = 43000 - 32250
Sale Price = $10750 (answer).
This means the cost of the item to you is $10750.
You will pay $10750 for a item with original price of $43000 when discounted 75%.
In this example, if you buy an item at $43000 with 75% discount, you will pay 43000 - 32250 = 10750 dollars.
3) 32250 is what percent off 43000 dollars?
Using the formula (b) and replacing given values:
Amount Saved = Original Price x Discount in Percent /100. So,
32250 = 43000 x Discount in Percent / 100
32250 / 43000 = Discount in Percent /100
100 x 32250 / 43000 = Discount in Percent
_PHONE_ / 43000 = Discount in Percent, or
Discount in Percent = 75 (answer).
To find more examples, just choose one at the bottom of this page.


Python API (advanced)
In some rare cases, experts may want to create Scheduler, Worker, and Nanny objects explicitly in Python. This is often necessary when making tools to automatically deploy Dask in custom settings.
It is more common to create a Local cluster with Client() on a single machine or use the Command Line Interface (CLI). New readers are recommended to start there.
If you do want to start Scheduler and Worker objects yourself you should be a little familiar with async/await style Python syntax. These objects are awaitable and are commonly used within async with context managers. Here are a few examples to show a few ways to start and finish things.
Full Example
Scheduler([loop, delete_interval, …]) Dynamic distributed task scheduler
Worker([scheduler_ip, scheduler_port, …]) Worker node in a Dask distributed cluster
Client([address, loop, timeout, …]) Connect to and submit computation to a Dask cluster
We first start with a comprehensive example of setting up a Scheduler, two Workers, and one Client in the same event loop, running a simple computation, and then cleaning everything up.
import asyncio
from dask.distributed import Scheduler, Worker, Client
async def f():
 async with Scheduler() as s:
 async with Worker(s.address) as w1, Worker(s.address) as w2:
 async with Client(s.address, asynchronous=True) as client:
 result = await future
Now we look at simpler examples that build up to this case.
We create scheduler by creating a Scheduler() object, and then await that object to wait for it to start up. We can then wait on the.finished method to wait until it closes. In the meantime the scheduler will be active managing the cluster..
import asyncio
from dask.distributed import Scheduler, Worker
async def f():
 s = Scheduler() # scheduler created, but not yet running
 s = await s # the scheduler is running
 await s.finished() # wait until the scheduler closes
This program will run forever, or until some external process connects to the scheduler and tells it to stop. If you want to close things yourself you can close any Scheduler, Worker, Nanny, or Client class by awaiting the.close method:
await s.close()
The worker follows the same API. The only difference is that the worker needs to know the address of the scheduler.
import asyncio
from dask.distributed import Scheduler, Worker
async def f(scheduler_address):
 w = await Worker(scheduler_address)
 await w.finished()
Start many in one event loop
We can run as many of these objects as we like in the same event loop.
import asyncio
from dask.distributed import Scheduler, Worker
async def f():
 s = await Scheduler()
 w = await Worker(s.address)
 await w.finished()
 await s.finished()
Use Context Managers
We can also use async with context managers to make sure that we clean up properly. Here is the same example as from above:
import asyncio
from dask.distributed import Scheduler, Worker
async def f():
 async with Scheduler() as s:
 async with Worker(s.address) as w:
 await w.finished()
 await s.finished()
Alternatively, in the example below we also include a Client, run a small computation, and then allow things to clean up after that computation..
import asyncio
from dask.distributed import Scheduler, Worker, Client
async def f():
 async with Scheduler() as s:
 result = await future
This is equivalent to creating and awaiting each server, and then calling.close on each as we leave the context. In this example we don't wait on s.finished(), so this will terminate relatively quickly. You could have called await s.finished() though if you wanted this to run forever.
Nanny([scheduler_ip, scheduler_port, …]) A process to manage worker processes
Alternatively, we can replace Worker with Nanny if we want your workers to be managed in a separate process. The Nanny constructor follows the same API. This allows workers to restart themselves in case of failure. Also, it provides some additional monitoring, and is useful when coordinating many workers that should live in different processes in order to avoid the GIL.
# w = await Worker(s.address)
w = await Nanny(s.address)
These classes have a variety of keyword arguments that you can use to control their behavior. See the API documentation below for more information.
class distributed.Scheduler(loop=None, delete_interval='500ms', synchronize_worker_interval='60s', services=None, service_kwargs=None, allowed_failures=None, extensions=None, validate=None, scheduler_file=None, security=None, worker_ttl=None, idle_timeout=None, interface=None, host=None, port=0, protocol=None, dashboard_address=None, dashboard=None, http_prefix='/', preload=None, preload_argv=(), plugins=(), **kwargs)[source]
Dynamic distributed task scheduler
The scheduler tracks the current state of workers, data, and computations. The scheduler listens for events and responds by controlling workers appropriately. It continuously tries to use the workers to execute an ever growing dask graph.
All events are handled quickly, in linear time with respect to their input (which is often of constant size) and generally within a millisecond. To accomplish this the scheduler tracks a lot of state. Every operation maintains the consistency of this state.
The scheduler communicates with the outside world through Comm objects. It maintains a consistent and valid view of the world even when listening to several clients at once.
A Scheduler is typically started either with the dask-scheduler executable:
$ dask-scheduler
Scheduler started at
Or within a LocalCluster a Client starts up without connection information:
>>> c = Client()
>>> c.cluster.scheduler
Users typically do not interact with the scheduler directly but rather with the client object Client.
The scheduler contains the following state variables. Each variable is listed along with what it stores and a brief description.
 - tasks: {task key: TaskState}
 Tasks currently known to the scheduler
 - unrunnable: {TaskState}
 Tasks in the "no-worker" state
 - workers: {worker key: WorkerState}
 Workers currently connected to the scheduler
 - idle: {WorkerState}:
 Set of workers that are not fully utilized
 - saturated: {WorkerState}:
 Set of workers that are not over-utilized
 - host_info: {hostname: dict}:
 Information about each worker host
 - clients: {client key: ClientState}
 Clients currently connected to the scheduler
 - services: {str: port}:
 Other services running on this scheduler, like Bokeh
 - loop: IOLoop:
 The running Tornado IOLoop
 - client_comms: {client key: Comm}
 For each client, a Comm object used to receive task requests and report task status updates.
 - stream_comms: {worker key: Comm}
 For each worker, a Comm object from which we both accept stimuli and report results
 - task_duration: {key-prefix: time}
 Time we expect certain functions to take, e.g. {'sum': 0.25}
adaptive_target(comm=None, target_duration=None)[source]
Desired number of workers based on the current workload
This looks at the current running tasks and memory use, and returns a number of desired workers. This is often used by adaptive scheduling.
target_duration: str
A desired duration of time for computations to take. This affects how rapidly the scheduler will ask to scale.
add_client(comm, client=None, versions=None)[source]
Add client to network
We listen to all future messages from this Comm.
add_keys(comm=None, worker=None, keys=())[source]
Learn that a worker has certain keys
This should not be used in practice and is mostly here for legacy reasons. However, it is sent by workers from time to time.
add_plugin(plugin=None, idempotent=False, **kwargs)[source]
Add external plugin to scheduler
add_worker(comm=None, address=None, keys=(), nthreads=None, name=None, resolve_address=True, nbytes=None, types=None, now=None, resources=None, host_info=None, memory_limit=None, metrics=None, pid=0, services=None, local_directory=None, versions=None, nanny=None, extra=None)[source]
Add a new worker to the cluster
broadcast(comm=None, msg=None, workers=None, hosts=None, nanny=False, serializers=None)[source]
Broadcast message to workers, return all results
cancel_key(key, client, retries=5, force=False)[source]
Cancel a particular key and all dependents
check_idle_saturated(ws: distributed.scheduler.WorkerState, occ: ctypes.c_double = -1.0)[source]
Update the status of the idle and saturated state
The scheduler keeps track of workers that are..
 - Saturated: have enough work to stay busy
 - Idle: do not have enough work to stay busy
They are considered saturated if they both have enough tasks to occupy all of their threads, and if the expected runtime of those tasks is large enough.
This is useful for load balancing and adaptivity.
Handle heartbeats from Client
client_releases_keys(keys=None, client=None)[source]
Remove keys from client desired list
close(comm=None, fast=False, close_workers=False)[source]
Send cleanup signal to all coroutines then wait until finished
See also
close_worker(comm=None, worker=None, safe=None)[source]
Remove a worker from the cluster
This both removes the worker from our local state and also sends a signal to the worker to shut down. This works regardless of whether or not the


Datumtron - Omega
Omega SOW Product and Demo
Omega SOW is an application of Omega AI to the AML Compliance problem of the Source of Wealth identification.
The Omega SOW Product reads hundreds of thousands to millions of KYC notes written by financial advisors and answers a set of questions about SOW to satisfy compliance AML requirements.
Omega answers two main challenges of applying AI within the regulatory domain: very high level of accuracy and explainability of its decisions. Also, Omega is able to meet these additional challenges:
 - Notes are written in a "casual" business language. A financial advisor, who has a client on the phone, will try to quickly capture as much information as possible. This means that there are many abbreviations, many errors (in spelling and in grammar)
 - In some cases, information is entered in points and not in continuous sentences.
 - In many cases, notes are vague and even a human who is not specialized will have difficulty understanding the note.
 - SOW questions are interdependent. The first question in the demo must be answered correctly, in order to answer all the following questions correctly.
In the demo below, you can select an example note then click the "Ω Answer" button to have Omega read, understand, and answer pertinent SOW KYC questions in real time. A ½ second delay between questions is introduced to improve readability. You can change any note, and click the "Ω Answer" again.
Omega AI provides solutions to Wall Street to satisfy regulatory compliance KYC requirements.
Sample Notes:
With Omega SOW, there is no need to clean the notes. This demo purposefully include errors to simulate real life note errors.
All names, account numbers, and other content are fictional and created to simulate actual SOW note styles.


text:
Objective: To analyze the association between prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen kinetics and the risk of biopsy progression in prostate cancer patients on active surveillance, and to study the effect of prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen values on the predictive performance of prostate-specific antigen velocity and prostate-specific antigen doubling time. Methods: The study included 137 active surveillance patients with two or more prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen levels measured over a period of at least 3 months. Two sets of analyses were carried out. First, the association between prostate-specific antigen kinetics calculated using only the prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen values and the risk of biopsy progression was studied. Second, using the same cohort of patients, the predictive value of prostate-specific antigen kinetics calculated using only post-diagnostic prostate-specific antigens and compared with that of prostate-specific antigen kinetics based on both preand post-diagnostic prostate-specific antigen levels was analyzed. Results: Of 137 patients included in the analysis, 37 (27%) had biopsy progression over a median follow-up period of 3.2 years. Prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen velocity of more than 2 ng/mL/year and 3 ng/mL/year was statistically significantly associated with the risk of future biopsy progression. However, after adjustment for baseline prostate-specific antigen density, these associations were no longer significant. None of the tested prostate-specific antigen kinetics based on combined preand post-diagnostic prostate-specific antigen values were statistically significantly associated with the risk of biopsy progression. Conclusions: Historical prediagnostic prostate-specific antigens seems to be not clinically useful in patients diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance.
- Active surveillance
- Prostate biopsy
- Prostate cancer
- Prostate-specific antigen doubling time
- Prostate-specific antigen velocity
ASJC Scopus subject areas


text:
getrusage() reports kernel counters that are updated only once application loses context and a switch to kernel space happens. For example on modern Linux server kernels that would mean that getrusage() calls would return information rounded at 10ms, desktop kernels - at 1ms.
getrusage() isn't usable for micro-measurements at all - and getmicrotime(true) might be much more valuable resource.
(PHP 4, PHP 5)
getrusage — Gets the current resource usages
$who= 0 ] )
This is an interface to getrusage(2). It gets data returned from the system call.
whois 1, getrusage will be called with
Returns an associative array containing the data returned from the system call. All entries are accessible by using their documented field names.
Example #1 getrusage() example
$dat = getrusage();
echo $dat["ru_nswap"]; // number of swaps
echo $dat["ru_majflt"]; // number of page faults
echo $dat["ru_utime.tv_sec"]; // user time used (seconds)
echo $dat["ru_utime.tv_usec"]; // user time used (microseconds)
Note: This function is not implemented on Windows platforms.
- Your system's man page on getrusage(2)
The author of the article mentioned in the previous post says "Once I got a negative value for both times - I have absolutely no clue how that can happen.". This is because time in microseconds is not padded with zeros from the left, therefore, you cannot concatenate the two numbers. Instead, you should normalize the values and then add them up:


Skip Navigation
Finance and Administration's Institutional Values
The guiding principles and behaviors that embody how your organization and its people are expected to operate. Values reflect and reinforce the desired culture of an organization. Values support and guide the decision making of every workforce member, helping the organization accomplish its mission and attain its vision in an appropriate manner.
Example: Integrity and fairness in all interactions, exceeding student and stakeholder expectations, valuing individuals and diversity, protecting the environment, and striving for performance excellence every day.
Service – an act of helpful activity; help; aid.
Example: APSU provides excellence service to promote student, faculty and staff success.
Example: An effective leadership system respects the capabilities and requirements of workforce members and other stakeholders, and it sets high expectations for performance and performance improvement. It builds loyalties and teamwork based on the organization's vision and values and the pursuit of shared goals. It encourages and supports initiative and appropriate risk taking, subordinates' organizational structure to purpose and function, and avoids chains of command that require long decision paths. An effective leadership system includes mechanisms for the leaders to conduct self-examination, receive feedback, and improve.
Honesty - honorable in principles, intentions, and actions; upright and fair.
Example: APSU's honesty promotes loyalty from its students, faculty and staff.
Example: APSU respects their students, faculty and staff and their abilities.
Commitment - a pledge or promise; obligation.
Example: APSU is committed to promoting the success of the students and professional development for our faculty and staff.
Excellence - the fact or state of excelling; superiority; eminence.
Example: APSU continues to reengineer services and products and continuously strives to excel in service to our students, faculty and staff.


text:
INTRODUCTION: Traumatic oesophageal perforation is a rare, life-threatening emergency that requires early recognition and prompt surgical management. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present an unusual case of a patient on warfarin treatment developed an intramural oesophageal haematoma following blunt thoracic trauma leading to perforation on the 18th day. DISCUSSION: In treatment of oesophageal haematoma in patients on vitamin-K antagonists, strict control of the International Normalized Ratio (INR) is essential along with total parenteral nutrition therapy and refrainment through nasogastric tubes. Three explanations postulated to be the cause for late perforation which might be due to esophageal wall ischemia from pressure built up between the hematoma, azygos vein and the lower part of thoracic trachea; or could be an immediate rupture walled-off until the patient became symptomatic; or the intramural hematoma gradually lysed and causing late perforation. CONCLUSION: Although extremely rare, an oesophageal haematoma and late complications must be considered in patients on anti-coagulant therapy following blunt thoracic trauma and complaining only of chest pain.
International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, 2014, Vol 5, Issue 10, p. 659-61


text:
The mission of Little Otter Swim School is to provide quality swim lessons in a safe and fun environment, taught by caring and enthusiastic teachers. While the children are learning they are also gaining a respect and love for the water.
Little Otter Swim School now has two locations to serve you and your swimmers.
-Baby Swim Classes.
-Beginner Swim Classes.
-Intermediate Swim Classes.
-Advanced Swim Classes.
-Excel Swim Team.
Grades: Preschool, Elementary
Two locations in Charlotte, Charlotte, NC


text:
Astrophysics Science Division High-School Student Opportunities
Astrophysics Science Division High-School Student OpportunitiesBelow are all the High School level opportunities in Astrophysics that are available at Goddard. Information about other high-school internships that can be done with the other science divisions at Goddard is available at _URL_
|The Scientific and Engineering Student Internship (SESI)
|The SESI program is a joint program with the Physics Department of the Catholic University of America (CUA), ASD/GSFC and Science and Exploration Directorate at GSFC. Student opportunities are open in all divisions of the Science and Exploration Directorate including the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD), the Earth-Sun Exploration Division, the Laboratory for Solar and Space Physics, the Solar System Exploration Division and other research.
|April 30, 2011 (US Citizens)
|The High School Internship Program (HIP)
|The purpose of this program is to engage high school students in 'real-time' applications of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in a research-focused work world. Interns will learn more about space exploration in general and GSFC-specific areas of earth science, space science, engineering, and technology. The program runs for 8 weeks.
|The Science and Engineering Apprentice Program (SEAP)
|The NASA IV&V Facility hosts the Science and Engineering Apprentice Program (SEAP). Students who usually possess a diverse background and have interest in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering, work closely with scientists and engineers who act as their mentors. The program offers students a unique and positive experience in their fields of interest, thus encouraging them to pursue careers in science and engineering. To participate in this program at the NASA IV&V Facility, applicants must be U.S. citizens and provide their own form of transportation for the duration of the internship. This program is restricted to students who live and attend school within a 50 mile radius of the NASA IV&V Facility, Fairmont, WV 26554.
|February 26, 2011
|The National Space Club Scholars Program
|The purpose of this program is to provide students with an opportunity to experience how research and development organizations operate on a day-to-day basis. Participants will be assigned to work with a technical professional who is doing work related to the general field of interest to the student.
|None Listed - Program runs from June 27 - August 5, 2011


text:
Speak Free: Freedom of expression
"If these feelings of disgust all over the world could be united into common action, something effective could be done."
Peter Benenson, Amnesty founder, 1961 Amnesty was founded 50 years ago to fight for the fundamental right to freedom of expression and to combat abuses of people who dare to speak out. We hope these resources enable you to inspire a new generation to make a difference.
Download resources | Read about the launch
Thank you to everyone who entered our competition to design a sticker to inspire a new generation to become human rights defenders.
5 mins, an assembly, one lesson? However long you've got we've got resources you can use
Order the pack | Feedback + win a camera
WANT TO DO MORE?
I'm a teacher
I'm a student
How can my school get involved in Amnesty's 50th year?
|Politics and literature join forces to launch Amnesty freedom of expression resource at Swansea school|
On 10 November the Welsh Children's Poet Laureate and an Assembly Minister attended the UK launch at Bishopston School. Press release | photos
Join TeachRights our network of 4000 teachers
Email _EMAIL_ or call +44 (0)20 7033 1596.


text:
Majura, Canberra, ACT
Majura, Canberra, ACT
Majura, Canberra, ACT
Year round although late spring is better for the wildflowers
Along with the Crazy Crab-Flash Walk and Green loop Trail, the Blue Loop Trail is one of three multipurpose trails located in the Majura Pines Recreational Area (ACT). It's an area I've only recently discovered because it doesn't appear on the local government list of walking trails given the emphasis is on mountain biking. The trail itself is formed dirt and management road through pine plantation. The wildlife is almost non existent due to the constraints of the roads either side and given the narrow section of pine plantation.
The walk itself takes you under the major adjacent roadway (Majura Parkway) through the pine forests on the north eastern slopes of Mount Majura and at a number of stages, you touch on natural bushland on the upper slopes of Mount Majura. While the traffic noise is a constant on the lower sections of trail, the Blue Loop takes you across the full section of the pine plantation. On the upper reaches of the walk you can be forgiven for forgetting where you are. There is very little undergrowth in this forest with most of the ground under the pines being reasonably clean until breaking out into the open which is where the undergrowth starts to reassert itself. While the Majura Pines Recreational Area isn't known for its wildlife and wildflowers, it does have more on offer than the other two walks and if you choose to do the walk in late spring then you will see a greater variety of flowers and birdlife on show.
The Crazy Crab and Green Loop Trails are more towards the central core of this pine plantation but the Blue Loop touches the extremes of the area on all sides. It's not impossible to get lost on this walk, you just need to stop and remember three things; you are walking through the pine planation, the downhill slope will take you back to the main road, and at no stage do you go through any fences or gates.
However, if you aren't paying attention you will end up on the upper sections of Mount Majura at the end closet to the Canberra airport but you will very quickly realise that because all of a sudden you'll be walking though natural bushland and not pine trees. There is also signage that says 'exit' which is a big enough hint so long as you aren't daydreaming, you'll be fine.
This walk is identified as a 10.4 km walk and on the day I did it our GPS measured 10.5 km so the signage is very accurate in this respect. The walk took just over 3.25 hours and I ended up sneaking off-trail onto one of the management roads towards the end of the walk because it was approaching sunset. I did this walk after work in late spring and even though I was carrying a headlamp, I decided I wanted to finish while there was still light. While it is not quite a figure of 8 in shape it is close enough to describe it that way. From my perspective this is the best of the three trails in this area and provides the greatest variety in terrain and views.
The signage is reasonably good on this trail but I recommend taking a photo of the trail map at the trailhead not so much to provide directions but as a reminder that you are essentially doing a loop around the plantation. The central core of the trail is shared with the Green Loop however where this trail comes into its own is that at both ends of the trail it takes you to the highest points of the pine planation. At the northern most section of the trail which is the direction I originally started walking is a solitary picnic table which is a great place for a rest and a snack.
While the trails in this pine plantation are primarily aimed at mountain bikers, plenty of walkers and runners use the trail. Given its so close to the city its a great opportunity to do a walk after work and away from the heavily used bush trails in the centre of the city. However, being a trail system primarily designed for mountain bikers, they know how to do switch backs. If the switch backs start to annoy you, it's easy to jump across the trail given the switches are that close. One thing I recommend to get the best out of this trail as a walker, is start early in the day to avoid the bulk of the mountain bikers This trail would be a really nice walk in mid winter – the early morning fog would add an eerie quality as you walk though the pines.
This walk is worth doing at least once and being so close to the city, provides an easily accessible option to do something a bit different. If you are up for the longer distance and have the time, then this is the pick of the three trails in this plantation.
Car park at Majura Pines Recreational Area
Close up of walk signage
Trailhead information for the Blue Loop
Toilet block at the trailhead
Water bubbler at the trailhead
Picnic area at the trailhead
Sign to the Pines
Heading towards the underpass
Passing under Majura Parkway
Green Loop signage arrows
Give way signage hierarchy
Onto the management trail
This is the first directional sign that you come across but we suggest you go past this and continue up the road till you come to the sign for 'Blue Betty" and then head north towards the right of the trail. You will loop around and come back to this point later in the walk
Head up the road to 'Blue Betty'
Blue Betty signage as you hit the top off the 'T' intersection
There is also more detailed signage at this point
Trail example Blue Betty
Dip hazard after the rain
That's one way of getting over a tree
Follow the Mr Squiggle signs
View to Canberra airport
Hibertia in flower
Mr Squiggle going up hill
Trail example Mr Sqiggle
Wattle seeds forming
Trail high point and rest area on the northern loop end. A great place for a rest
Bombora Trail. This is a series of dips and humps and on the day I did it there was waitron the bottom of all the dips
Follow the arrows
Left turn which takes on a trail through a logged area
Turn left and then turn hard right
Follow the Blue Loop to the right
Radicle trail start
Blue Loop merges with the Green Trail
Out into the open
Looking down towards the roadway
Trail infrastructure 2
Choose your difficulty, this is meant for bikers and is only a short option
Blue Tongue Lizard
Walking across harvevested forest land
Open area 2
On to management road
Follow the Blue Loop up. The Green Trail goes straight ahead for a bit further before turning
The exit sign that takes you out of the plantation and over the hill into the suburbs on the other side. Keep following the blue signs
There are a number of Blue Trails that run down the hill from easy to hard. Choose your own adventure!
Back onto the management road
Along the management road
Turn right and head back towards the underpass
Down the slope or back down the path you came up. Your choice!
Almost back to the start
Back at the trailhead
This short video provides a start to finish overview of this walk
Google map showing the trailhead from the Canberra GPO. The trip from the centre of Canberra to the trailhead is approximately 13 km and around 15 minutes duration
Heading along the access road
Heading towards the trailhead
Trailhead car park
This walk was undertaken by the team from Australian Hiker


text:
Leading Australian strata insurance specialist signs environmental deal
CHU, Australia's leading strata insurance specialist, has signed a three-year agreement with environmental scientist/explorer Tim Jarvis's Forktree project in combating climate change and biodiversity loss.
CHU has agreed to offset its carbon footprint by planting thousands of trees on degraded farmland on the Fleurieu peninsula in South Australian to restore its pristine condition.
CHU CEO Bobby Lehane urged other businesses to consider similar action.
The project involves restoring a 53 ha former pastoral property on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The land currently has about 30-40 native trees on it but should have 30-40,000.
"Restoring the land will bring huge biodiversity benefits, as well as sequestering tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon," said Mr Jarvis.
"Climate change and biodiversity loss are the biggest threats facing us. The Forktree Project involves restoring and reforesting an area of degraded farmland to help combat these threats and act as a showcase for what is possible in terms of land regeneration and off-grid living."
Mr Jarvis added: "I congratulate CHU in wholeheartedly embracing this project and for its environmental stand, and I encourage other parts of the insurance and strata industry to seek areas where they can help promote biodiversity and the environment."
NOTE: Tim Jarvis AM is an environmental scientist, author, film maker, adventurer and public speaker. He is committed to finding pragmatic solutions to major environmental issues related to climate change and biodiversity loss and uses his speaking engagements, films and books about his expeditions/work to progress thinking in these areas. He was conferred a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to environment, community and exploration in the 2010 Australian honours list; voted the Australian Adventurer of the Year in 2013; Conservationist of the Year in 2016 (Australian Geographic Society); made a Bragg Fellow of the Royal Institution of Australia and is Global Ambassador to international sustainability NGO WWF. In 2013 the adventurer and environmental scientist re-enacted Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1916 epic journey, sailing a replica of his boat 1,500km across the Southern Ocean from Antarctica, where Shackleton's men were stranded for more than a year, to South Georgia island, then climbing over its mountainous interior to the site of the whaling station where Shackleton finally found help.


d.pop(k).
 A fast move-to-end operation is useful for resequencing entries. For example, an ordered dictionary can be used to track order of access by aging entries from the oldest to the most recently accessed.
 >>> from collections import OrderedDict
 >>> d = OrderedDict.fromkeys(['a', 'b', 'X', 'd', 'e'])
 >>> list(d)
 ['a', 'b', 'X', 'd', 'e']
 >>> d.move_to_end('X')
 >>> list(d)
 ['a', 'b', 'd', 'e', 'X']

 (Contributed by Raymond Hettinger.)
 - The collections.deque class grew two new methods count() and reverse() that make them more substitutable for list objects:
 >>> from collections import deque
 >>> d = deque('simsalabim')
 >>> d.count('s')
 2
 >>> d.reverse()
 >>> d
 deque(['m', 'i', 'b', 'a', 'l', 'a', 's', 'm', 'i', 's'])

 (Contributed by Raymond Hettinger.)
threading
The threading module has a new Barrier synchronization class for making multiple threads wait until all of them have reached a common barrier point. Barriers are useful for making sure that a task with multiple preconditions does not run until all of the predecessor tasks are complete.
Barriers can work with an arbitrary number of threads. This is a generalization of a Rendezvous which is defined for only two threads.
Implemented as a two-phase cyclic barrier, Barrier objects are suitable for use in loops. The separate filling and draining phases assure that all threads get released (drained) before any one of them can loop back and re-enter the barrier. The barrier fully resets after each cycle.
Example of using barriers:
from threading import Barrier, Thread
def get_votes(site):
 ballots = conduct_election(site)
 all_polls_closed.wait() # do not count until all polls are closed
 totals = summarize(ballots)
 publish(site, totals)
all_polls_closed = Barrier(len(sites))
for site in sites:
 Thread(target=get_votes, args=(site,)).start()
In this example, the barrier enforces a rule that votes cannot be counted at any polling site until all polls are closed. Notice how a solution with a barrier is similar to one with threading.Thread.join(), but the threads stay alive and continue to do work (summarizing ballots) after the barrier point is crossed.
If any of the predecessor tasks can hang or be delayed, a barrier can be created with an optional timeout parameter. Then if the timeout period elapses before all the predecessor tasks reach the barrier point, all waiting threads are released and a BrokenBarrierError exception is raised:
def get_votes(site):
 ballots = conduct_election(site)
 try:
 all_polls_closed.wait(timeout=midnight - time.now())
 except BrokenBarrierError:
 lockbox = seal_ballots(ballots)
 queue.put(lockbox)
 else:
 totals = summarize(ballots)
 publish(site, totals)
In this example, the barrier enforces a more robust rule. If some election sites do not finish before midnight, the barrier times-out and the ballots are sealed and deposited in a queue for later handling.
See Barrier Synchronization Patterns for more examples of how barriers can be used in parallel computing. Also, there is a simple but thorough explanation of barriers in The Little Book of Semaphores, section 3.6.
(Contributed by Kristján Valur Jónsson with an API review by Jeffrey Yasskin in bpo-8777.)
datetime and time
 - The datetime module has a new type timezone that implements the tzinfo interface by returning a fixed UTC offset and timezone name. This makes it easier to create timezone-aware datetime objects:
 >>> from datetime import datetime, timezone

 >>> datetime.now(timezone.utc)
 datetime.datetime(2010, 12, 8, 21, 4, 2, 923754, tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)

 >>> datetime.strptime("01/01/2000 12:00 +0000", "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M %z")
 datetime.datetime(2000, 1, 1, 12, 0, tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)

 - Also, timedelta objects can now be multiplied by float and divided by float and int objects. And timedelta objects can now divide one another.
 - The datetime.date.strftime() method is no longer restricted to years after 1900. The new supported year range is from 1000 to 9999 inclusive.
 - Whenever a two-digit year is used in a time tuple, the interpretation has been governed by time.accept2dyear. The default is True which means that for a two-digit year, the century is guessed according to the POSIX rules governing the %y strptime format.
 Starting with Py3.2, use of the century guessing heuristic will emit a DeprecationWarning. Instead, it is recommended that time.accept2dyear be set to False so that large date ranges can be used without guesswork:
 >>> import time, warnings
 >>> warnings.resetwarnings() # remove the default warning filters

 >>> time.accept2dyear = True # guess whether 11 means 11 or 2011
 >>> time.asctime((11, 1, 1, 12, 34, 56, 4, 1, 0))
 Warning (from warnings module):
 ...
 DeprecationWarning: Century info guessed for a 2-digit year.
 'Fri Jan 1 12:34:56 2011'

 >>> time.accept2dyear = False # use the full range of allowable dates
 >>> time.asctime((11, 1, 1, 12, 34, 56, 4, 1, 0))
 'Fri Jan 1 12:34:56 11'

 Several functions now have significantly expanded date ranges. When time.accept2dyear is false, the time.asctime() function will accept any year that fits in a C int, while the time.mktime() and time.strftime() functions will accept the full range supported by the corresponding operating system functions.
(Contributed by Alexander Belopolsky and Victor Stinner in bpo-_PHONE_, bpo-5094, bpo-6641, bpo-2706, bpo-_PHONE_, bpo-8013, and bpo-10827.)
math
The math module has been updated with six new functions inspired by the C99 standard.
The isfinite() function provides a reliable and fast way to detect special values. It returns True for regular numbers and False for Nan or Infinity:
>>> from math import isfinite
>>> [isfinite(x) for x in (123, 4.56, float('Nan'), float('Inf'))]
[True, True, False, False]
The expm1() function computes e**x-1 for small values of x without incurring the loss of precision that usually accompanies the subtraction of nearly equal quantities:
>>> from math import expm1
>>> expm1(0.013671875) # more accurate way to compute e**x-1 for a small x
0.013765762467652909
The erf() function computes a probability integral or Gaussian error function. The complementary error function, erfc(), is 1 - erf(x):
>>> from math import erf, erfc, sqrt
>>> erf(1.0/sqrt(2.0)) # portion of normal distribution within 1 standard deviation
0.682689492137086
>>> erfc(1.0/sqrt(2.0)) # portion of normal distribution outside 1 standard deviation
0.31731050786291404
>>> erf(1.0/sqrt(2.0)) + erfc(1.0/sqrt(2.0))
1.0
The gamma() function is a continuous extension of the factorial function. See _URL_ for details. Because the function is related to factorials, it grows large even for small values of x, so there is also a lgamma() function for computing the natural logarithm of the gamma function:
>>> from math import gamma, lgamma
>>> gamma(7.0) # six factorial
720.0
>>> lgamma(801.0) # log(800 factorial)


DATA steps to create and merge the parameter values, but I like visualizing the location of the estimates relative to the parameter values. Click on the image to enlarge it.
/* visualize sampling distribution of estimates; overlay parameter values */
data Param;
 Intercept = 2; x1 = -4; x2 = 1; /* parameter values */
data PE2;
 set PE Param(in=param); /* append parameter values */
 if param then Beta = "True Value"; /* add ID variable */
 else Beta = "Estimate ";
ods graphics / reset ATTRPRIORITY=none;
title "Parameter Estimates from Logistic Regression";
title2 "&NumSamples Simulated Data Sets, N = &N";
proc sgscatter data=PE2 datasymbols=(Circle StarFilled);
 matrix Intercept x1 x2 / group=Beta markerattrs=(size=11);
The scatter plot matrix shows pairwise views of the sampling distribution of the three regression coefficients. The graph shows the variability of these estimates in a logistic model with the specified design matrix. It also shows how the coefficients are correlated.
By using the techniques in this post, you can simulate data for other generalized or mixed regression models. You can use similar techniques simulate data from other kinds of multivariate models.
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Simulating data for a logistic regression model
In my book Simulating Data with SAS, I show how to use the SAS DATA step to simulate data from a logistic regression model. Recently there have been discussions on the SAS/IML Support Community about simulating logistic data by using the SAS/IML language. This article describes how to efficiently simulate logistic data in SAS/IML, and is based on the DATA step example in my book.
The SAS documentation for the LOGISTIC procedure includes a brief discussion of the mathematics of logistic regression. To simulate logistic data, you need to do the following:
 1. Assign the design matrix (X) of the explanatory variables. This step is done once. It establishes the values of the explanatory variables in the (simulated) study.
 2. Compute the linear predictor, η = X β, where β is a vector of parameters. The parameters are the "true values" of the regression coefficients.
 3. Transform the linear predictor by the logistic (inverse logit) function. The transformed values are in the range (0,1) and represent probabilities for each observation of the explanatory variables.
 4. Simulate a binary response vector from the Bernoulli distribution, where each 0/1 response is randomly generated according to the specified probabilities from Step 3.
Presumably you are simulating the data so that you can call PROC LOGISTIC and obtain parameter estimates and other statistics for the simulated data. So, optionally, Step 5 is to write the data to a SAS data set so that PROC LOGISTIC can read it. Here's a SAS/IML program that generates a single data set of 150 simulated observations:
/* Example from _Simulating Data with SAS_, p. 226--229 */
proc iml;
call randseed(1);
beta = {2, -4, 1};
/* 4. Simulate binary response. Notice that the
 "probability of success" is a vector (SAS/IML 12.1) */
call randgen(y, "Bernoulli", mu); /* simulate binary response */
/* 5. Write y and x1-x2 to data set*/
varNames = "y" || ("x1":"x2");
Out = X; Out[,1] = y; /* simulated response in 1st column */
create LogisticData from Out[c=varNames]; /* no data is written yet */
append from Out; /* output this sample */
close LogisticData;
The SAS/IML statements for simulating logistic data are concise. A few comments on the program:
 - The design matrix contains two continuous variables. In this simulation, one is uniformly distributed; the other is normally distributed. This was done for convenience. You could also read in a data set that defines the observed values of the explanatory variables. See the discussion and examples in Simulating Data with SAS, p. 201–205. (Notice also that I used the RANDFUN function in SAS/IML 12.3 to generate these variables.)
 - The linear model does not contain an error term, as would be the case for linear regression. Instead, the binary response is random because we called the RANDGEN subroutine to generate a Bernoulli random variable.
 - The parameter to the Bernoulli distribution is a vector of probabilities. This feature requires SAS/IML 12.1.
 - So that the program can be extended to support an arbitrary number of explanatory variables, I copy all of the numerical data into the Out matrix, which is a copy of the X matrix except that the intercept column is replaced by the simulated binary responses. This matrix is written to a SAS data set.
What do the simulated data look like? The following call to SGPLOT produces a scatter plot of the X1 and X2 variables, with "events" colored red and "non-events" colored blue:
proc sgplot data=LogisticData;
scatter x=x1 y=x2 / group=y markerattrs=(symbol=CircleFilled);
The graph shows that the probability of an event decreases as you move from X1=0 (where there are many red markers) to X1=1 (where there are few red markers). This makes sense because the model coefficient for X1 is negative. In contrast, the probability of an event increases as you move from negative values of X2 to positive values. This makes sense because the model coefficient for X2 is positive. In general, most events (red markers) are in the upper left portion of the graph, whereas most non-events (blue markers) are in the lower right portion.
For small samples, there is a lot of uncertainty in the parameter estimates for a logistic regression. In this example, 150 observations were generated so that you can run PROC LOGISTIC against the simulated data and see that the parameter estimates are close to the parameter values. The following statement uses the CLMPARM=WALD option to compute parameter estimates and confidence intervals for the parameters:
proc logistic data=LogisticData plots(only)=Effect;
 model y(Event='1') = x1 x2 / clparm=wald;
 ods select CLParmWald EffectPlot;
t_LogisticSim LogisticSim
Notice that the parameter estimates are somewhat close to the parameter values of (2, -4, 1). The 95% confidence intervals include the parameter values. (Re-run the program with N = 1000 or N = 10000 to see whether the estimates get closer to the parameters!) The graph shows the predicted probability of an event as a function of X1, conditioned on X2=0.1, which is the mean value of X2. You could request a similar plot for the predicted probability as a function of X2 (at the mean of X1) by using the option
 plots(only)=Effect(showobs X=(X1 X2));
This article shows how to generate a single sample of data that fits a logistic regression model. In my next blog post, I will show you how to generalize this program to efficiently simulate and analyze many samples.
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Creating ODS graphics from the SAS/IML language
As you develop a program in the SAS/IML language, it is often useful to create graphs to visualize intermediate results. I do this all the time in my preferred development environment, which is SAS/IML Studio. In SAS/IML Studio, you can write a single statement to create a scatter plot, bar chart, histogram, and other standard statistical graphics. (For an overview of IMLPlus graphics, see the documentation chapter "Creating Dynamically Linked Graphs." For a longer discussion of IMLPlus programming, see Chapter 7 of Statistical Programming with SAS/IML Software.)
If you are writing a SAS/IML program by using a programming environment such as the SAS Windowing environment or SAS Enterprise Guide, then the IMLPlus graphics are not available. However, recall that you can call SAS procedures from the SAS/IML language. In particular, you can generate ODS graphics without leaving PROC IML by using the SUBMIT and ENDSUBMIT statements to call the SGPLOT procedure.
To give an example, suppose that you recently read my blog post on the new RANDFUN function and you decide to try it out. You call the RANDFUN function to simulate 1,000 observations from a normal distribution with mean 10 and standard deviation 2. Because you have never used that function before, you might want to create a histogram of the simulated data to make sure that it appears to be correct. No problem: just use the CREATE statement to create a SAS data set from a SAS/IML matrix, then use the SUBMIT/ENDSUBMIT statements to call PROC SGPLOT:
proc iml;
call randseed(1);
x = randfun(1000, "Normal", 10, 2); /* X ~ N(10,2) */
/* graph the simulated data */
create Normal var {x}; append; close Normal; /* write data */
 proc sgplot data=Normal;
 histogram x; /* histogram */
 density x / type=normal(mu=10 sigma=2); /* overlay normal */
The graph overlays a normal density curve on a histogram of the data. The graph indicates that the data are normally distributed with the specified parameters.
This technique is very powerful:


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Within this project, the mode of operation of the circuit breaker and its new innovative method of arc guiding were analyzed and verified. The solution refers to a switching device that is able to deal with both ac switching loads and bidirectional dc switching loads. It is primarily intended for use in UIC-capable switching units for voltages up to 3 kV and currents up to 800 A. The concept uses a combination of permanent and electromagnetic blowout fields. This completely new and innovative approach is intended to permit activation of the blast coils by the arcs themselves to generate the electromagnetic blowout fields without need for additional electrical switching contacts. The combining of a newly developed optical data acquisition system together with the conventional recording of electrical parameters made the verification of the working hypothesis of the switching process possible. A numerical model is used for the simulation of the later stage of the extinguishing process, where the arc is driven toward the arcing chamber by the superposed magnetic fields of permanent magnets and blast coils, until it is extinguished due to elongation and cooling by the arc splitter stack. The results of the measurement data analysis and theoretical modeling and simulation of the extinguishing process led to the identification of critical operational areas and resulted in a successful optimization of the contactor.


text: The remarkable capability of planarian regeneration is mediated by a group of adult stem cells referred to as neoblasts. Although these cells possess many unique cytological characteristics (e.g. they are X-ray sensitive and contain chromatoid bodies), it has been difficult to isolate them after cell dissociation. This is one of the major reasons why planarian regenerative mechanisms have remained elusive for a long time. Here, we describe a new method to isolate the planarian adult stem cells as X-ray-sensitive cell populations by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Dissociated cells from whole planarians were labeled with fluorescent dyes prior to fractionation by FACS. We compared the FACS profiles from X-ray-irradiated and non-irradiated planarians, and thereby found two cell fractions which contained X-ray-sensitive cells. These fractions, designated X1 and X2, were subjected to electron microscopic morphological analysis. We concluded that X-ray-sensitive cells in both fractions possessed typical stem cell morphology: an ovoid shape with a large nucleus and scant cytoplasm, and chromatoid bodies in the cytoplasm. This method of isolating X-ray-sensitive cells using FACS may provide a key tool for advancing our understanding of the stem cell system in planarians.


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Keywords:
 - rational method;
 - protein purification;
 - proteomics;
 - expert systems
Abstract
The purification of recombinant proteins for therapeutic or analytical applications requires the use of several chromatographic steps in order to achieve a high level of purity. A range of techniques is available such as anion and cation exchange chromatography, which can be carried out at different pHs, and hence used at different steps, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, gel filtration and affinity chromatography. Evidently when confronted with a complex mixture of partially unknown proteins or a clarified cell extract there are many different routes one can take in order to choose the minimum and most efficient number of purification steps to achieve a desired level of purity (e.g. 98, 99.5 or 99.9%). In this review we will show how an initial 'proteomic' characterization of the complex initial mixture of target protein and protein contaminants can be used to select the most efficient chromatographic separation steps in order to achieve a maximum level of purity with a minimum number of steps. The chosen methodology was implemented in a computer based expert system. The first algorithm developed was used to select the most efficient purification method to separate a protein from its contaminants based on the physicochemical properties of the protein product and the protein contaminants. The second algorithm developed was used to predict the number and concentration of contaminants after each separation as well as protein product purity. The successful application of the expert system approach, based on an initial proteomic characterization, to the practical cases of protein mixtures and clarified fermentation supernatant is presented and discussed. The purification strategy proposed was experimentally tested and validated with a mixture of four proteins and the experimental validation was also carried out with an 'unknown' supernatant of Bacillus subtilis producing a recombinant β-1,3-glucanase. The system was robust to errors <10% which is the range that can be found in the experimental determination of the properties in the database of product and contaminants. On the other hand, the system was sensitive both to larger variations (>20%) in the properties of the contaminant database and the protein product and to variations in one protein property (e.g. hydrophobicity). Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A simplified disproof of Beck's three permutations conjecture and an application to root-mean-squared discrepancy
Cole Franks
A $k$-permutation family on $n$ vertices is a set system consisting of the intervals of $k$ permutations of the integers $1$ through $n$. The discrepancy of a set system is the minimum over all red-blue vertex colorings of the maximum difference between the number of red and blue vertices in any set in the system. In 2011, Newman and Nikolov disproved a conjecture of Beck that the discrepancy of any $3$-permutation family is at most a constant independent of $n$. Here we give a simpler proof that Newman and Nikolov's sequence of $3$-permutation families has discrepancy $\Omega(\log n)$. We also exhibit a sequence of $6$-permutation families with root-mean-squared discrepancy $\Omega(\sqrt{\log n})$; that is, in any red-blue vertex coloring, the square root of the expected difference between the number of red and blue vertices in an interval of the system is $\Omega(\sqrt{\log n})$.
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2nd International Conference on Strategies and Implication for Education and Technological Advancement
Road construction materials and vehicular emissions have been found to constitute the major sources of soil and air pollution. This study attempts to investigate the influence of road furniture and vehicular emissions on the accumulation of heavy metal in some of the roadside soil of Benin City, Edo State. The objective of this study was to determine the concentration of heavy metals such as Zn, Pb, Mn, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Ni from roadside soil around some selected roads in Benin City. Three locations were selected on the basis of their high concentration of vehicular traffic. A control site with no form of vehicular emission or road construction material pollution was selected outside these three locations. Samples were collected from April to June 2013. The concentrations of seven heavy metals in the samples were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer, of which the result obtained indicates that the metals from the three sampled sites were higher than that in the control site, whereas the mean concentration of each of the heavy metal in the three locations except for Zinc and Nickel was below the European Union Regulatory Standard (EURS). Although these concentrations were below the European Union Regulatory Standard, these metals, which over time are washed by erosion into the local areas used for farming, may pose health hazards. The enhancement of fuel quality and the adoption of emission standards to mitigate the impact of vehicular emissions on human health should be made mandatory.
Key words: Heavy metals, soil, pollution.
Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0