text:
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To draw off (a liquid) by a gradual process: drained water from the sink.
- v. To cause liquid to go out from; empty: drained the bathtub; drain the pond.
- v. To draw off the surface water of: The Mississippi River drains a vast area.
- v. To drink all the contents of: drained the cup.
- v. To deplete gradually, especially to the point of complete exhaustion. See Synonyms at deplete.
- v. To fatigue or spend emotionally or physically: The day's events completely drained me of all strength.
- v. To flow off or out: Gasoline drained slowly from the tilted can.
- v. To become empty by the drawing off of liquid: watched the tub slowly drain.
- v. To discharge surface or excess water: The Niagara River drains into Lake Ontario. When flooded, the swamp drains northward.
- v. To become gradually depleted; dwindle: felt his enthusiasm draining.
- n. A pipe or channel by which liquid is drawn off.
- n. Medicine A device, such as a tube, inserted into the opening of a wound or body cavity to facilitate discharge of fluid or purulent material.
- n. The act or process of draining.
- n. A gradual outflow or loss; consumption or depletion: the drain of young talent by emigration.
- n. Something that causes a gradual loss: interruptions that are a drain on my patience.
- idiom. down the drain To or into the condition of being wasted or lost: All of our best laid plans are down the drain.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To draw off gradually, as a liquid; remove or convey away by degrees, as through conduits, by filtration, or by any comparable process: as, to drain water from land, wine from the lees, or blood from the body; to drain away the specie of a country.
- To free, clear, or deprive by degrees, as of a liquid; empty or exhaust gradually: as, to drain land of water (the most familiar use of the word); to drain a vessel of its contents; to drain a country of its resources.
- To flow off gradually.
- To be gradually emptied, as of a liquid: as, the cask slowly drains.
- n. The act of draining or drawing off, or of emptying by drawing off; gradual or continuous outflow, withdrawal, or expenditure.
- n. That which drains, or by means of which draining is immediately effected.
- n. Specifically— A passage, pipe, or open channel for the removal of water or other liquid; especially, a pipe or channel for removing the surplus water from soils. Drains may be open ditches or sunken pipes or conduits. Those for wet lands are so made as to permit the percolation into them of water from the adjacent soil, as by the use in a covered conduit of porous earthen pipes or tiles, or of a filling of small stones, of an open cut where there is a sufficient slope, etc. See sewer.
- n. The trench in which the melted metal flows from a furnace to the molds
- n. In surgery, a hollow sound or canula used to draw off purulent matter from a deep seated abscess.
- n. Pl. The grain from the mash-tub: distinctively called brewers' drains.
- n. In ship-building, a large pipe which runs through or above the double bottom of a war-ship and is connected with the principal pumps to remove water from the various compartments. The main drain is from 12 to 15 inches in diameter, has openings into the large compartments controlled by valves, and is intended to pump out the water in case of damage by grounding, collision, etc. The secondary or auxiliary drain is also connected with all the large compartments and is used for all ordinary pumping.
- n. A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume.
- n. Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
- n. vulgar An act of urination.
- n. electronics The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
- v. intransitive To lose liquid.
- v. transitive, ergative To cause liquid to flow out of.
- v. transitive, ergative To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
- v. transitive To deplete of energy or resources.
- v. intransitive, pinball To fall off the bottom of the playfield.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to cause the exhaustion of.
- v. To exhaust of liquid contents by drawing them off; to make gradually dry or empty; to remove surface water, as from streets, by gutters, etc.; to deprive of moisture; hence, to exhaust; to empty of wealth, resources, or the like.
- v. To filter.
- v. To flow gradually.
- v. To become emptied of liquor by flowing or dropping.
- n. The act of draining, or of drawing off; gradual and continuous outflow or withdrawal.
- n. That means of which anything is drained; a channel; a trench; a water course; a sewer; a sink.
- n. engraving The grain from the mashing tub.
- v. empty of liquid; drain the liquid from
- v. flow off gradually
- n. a pipe through which liquid is carried away
- n. emptying something accomplished by allowing liquid to run out of it
- v. deplete of resources
- v. make weak
- n. tube inserted into a body cavity (as during surgery) to remove unwanted material
- n. a gradual depletion of energy or resources
- Middle English dreinen (verb) from Old English drēahnian ("to drain, strain, filter"), from Proto-Germanic *draug- ("dry"), akin to Old English drūgian ("to dry up"), drūgaþ ("dryness, drought"), Old English drȳge ("dry"). More at dry (Wiktionary)
- Middle English dreinen, to strain, drain, from Old English drēahnian. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
"Brain drain is still claiming Canadian doctors, but not our doctorals."
"She noted that the more typical "brain drain" is to the US, as Canadian professionals leave for greater income potential."
"If there is brain drain from a particular country, it can scarcely develop."
"That a slip-slide into banality leads to forum brain drain is a sort of Catch-22 given."
"The brain drain is not the consequence of some sort of collective despair."
"Hong Kong's brain drain is both a myth and a reality -- a myth in that its proportions tend to be wildly exaggerated, and in that its existence is attributed to a largely imaginary state of panic supposedly to be found in Hong Kong."
"Highly educated women's abandonment of the workplace is not an extension of the centuries of upper-class arm candy; it's a sex-specific brain drain from the future rulers of the society...."
"Ainalem puts it this way: One potential solution to Africa's brain drain is virtual participation."
"America's loss may be India's gain, analysts say, pointing to a'reverse brain drain' that may see India reaping benefits for years to come."
"Watch the water drain from the roof of the greenhouses."
These user-created lists contain the word 'drain'.
The path of least resistance, watercourses, plumbing....
words describing slow action or movement
( open list, randomness, descriptive )
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
Words that make me think of Vampire: The Requiem
Grateful credit to _URL_
Very basic words for ESL students.
Words from 2009 'Watchmen' film.
Words that mean drink.
Looking for tweets for drain.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Mechanics: Vectors and Projectiles
Vectors and Projectiles: Audio Guided Solution
The takeoff speed of a military aircraft from an aircraft carrier is approximately 170 mi/hr relative to the air. They acquire this speed through a combination of a catapult system present on the aircraft carrier and the aircraft's jet propulsion system. A common strategy is to head the carrier and the plane into the wind. If a plane is taking off from an aircraft carrier which is moving at 40 mi/hr into a 20 mi/hr headwind, then what speed relative to the deck of the aircraft carrier must it obtain to takeoff?
Audio Guided Solution
Click to show or hide the answer!
Habits of an Effective Problem Solver
- Read the problem carefully and develop a mental picture of the physical situation. If necessary, sketch a simple diagram of the physical situation to help you visualize it.
- Identify the known and unknown quantities in an organized manner. Equate given values to the symbols used to represent the corresponding quantity - e.g., vox = 12.4 m/s, voy = 0.0 m/s, dx = 32.7 m, dy =???.
- Use physics formulas and conceptual reasoning to plot a strategy for solving for the unknown quantity.
- Identify the appropriate formula(s) to use.
- Perform substitutions and algebraic manipulations in order to solve for the unknown quantity.
Read About It!
Get more information on the topic of Vectors and Projectiles at The Physics Classroom Tutorial.
Return to Problem Set
Return to Overview


Problem 280: Ant and seeds
(see _URL_
A laborious ant walks randomly on a 5x5 grid. The walk starts from the central square.
At each step, the ant moves to an adjacent square at random, without leaving the grid; thus there are 2, 3 or 4 possible moves at each step depending on the ant's position.
At the start of the walk, a seed is placed on each square of the lower row. When the ant isn't carrying a seed and reaches a square of the lower row containing a seed,
it will start to carry the seed. The ant will drop the seed on the first empty square of the upper row it eventually reaches.
What's the expected number of steps until all seeds have been dropped in the top row?
Give your answer rounded to 6 decimal places.
My Algorithm
Wow, this turned out to be one of my solution with the most code written exclusively for a single problem (there are longer ones which copy stuff like Miller-Rabin test from my toolbox) !
But don't be afraid, it wasn't a hard problem, just lot's of laborous typing.
I created a struct named State which contains:
A state implies that the seed was already dropped or picked up on the current square if possible.
Not all states are valid, e.g. if the ant still carries a seed, is in the top row and the current square is empty (because the ant should have dropped the seed).
A total of 10270 valid states remains (see State::isValid).
A state is final, if the top row contains enough seeds (= 5 seeds).
My program determines how long it takes to reach a final state (there are 5 final states depending on where the last seed was dropped):
= 1 * p(1) + 2 * p(2) + 3 * p(3) + ... + n * p(n) + ...
p(n) is the probability that a final state is reached after exactly n moves.
After a certain number of moves the probability rapidly approaches zero and then I abort (e.g. ignoring ridicilously low values such as 10^99 * p(10^99) that are possible but extremely unlikely).
The first initialization phase enumerates all valid states and stores them in states.
Then for each state I analyze whether it is final (stored in final) or find all possible moves (up, down, left, right) and store them in transitions.
The actual computation of all moves can be written in just a few lines of code (see below the initialization is complete marker'').
All states are initialized with probability zero, except for the initial state with is 1 (=100%), i.e. ant in the middle of the grid.
Then do repeatedly:
After each iteration I add the probabilities that a final state was reached and add all of them.
If the delta becomes very small, then I abort and print the current sum.
Note
My live test allows to specify the number of seeds in a final state. For example if the ant needs to move only one seed to the top row, then it takes about 55.6 moves.
However, my Epsilon was fine-tuned for the default case (5 seeds), so the last digits of the result might be slightly off.
The transitions container was a std::map but memory allocations dominated execution time.
Since my hash values are pretty close to each other (maxHash = 49624) I converted it to a sparse std::vector and the code became about 2x faster.
Interactive test
You can submit your own input to my program and it will be instantly processed at my server:
Input data (separated by spaces or newlines):
Note: Enter the number of seeds that need to be moved to the top row (there are always 5 seeds in the bottom row
This is equivalent to
echo 1 | ./280
Output:
(please click 'Go !')
Note: the original problem's input 5 cannot be entered
because just copying results is a soft skill reserved for idiots.
(this interactive test is still under development, computations will be aborted after one second)
My code
… was written in C++11 and can be compiled with G++, Clang++, Visual C++. You can download it, too. Or just jump to my GitHub repository.
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <string>
#include <map>
#include <vector>
#include <bitset>

// 5x5 grid
const unsigned int gridSize = 5;
// how many seeds need to be transported from the bottom to the top row
unsigned int movedSeeds = 5;

// unique identifier of a state, generated by State::getHash()
typedef unsigned int Hash;

// note: all positions are zero-indexed, i.e. (0,0) to (4,4)
// top row can be identified by y=0
struct State
{
// ant's position
unsigned int x;
unsigned int y;
// true if ant is currently carrying a seed
bool carriesSeed;
// true if seed at (x, 0)
std::bitset<gridSize> seedsTopRow;
// true if seed at (x, 4)
std::bitset<gridSize> seedsBottomRow;

// dummy constructor
State() : x(0), y(0), carriesSeed(false), seedsTopRow(0), seedsBottomRow(0)
{}

// unique identifier
Hash getHash() const
{
// 17 bits: xxxyyyctttttbbbbb
Hash hash = carriesSeed ? 1 : 0;
hash = (hash << seedsTopRow .size()) + seedsTopRow .to_ulong();
hash = (hash << seedsBottomRow.size()) + seedsBottomRow.to_ulong();
hash = hash * gridSize + x;
hash = hash * gridSize + y;
return hash;
}

// true if all seeds moved to top row
bool isFinal() const
{
return seedsTopRow.count() == movedSeeds && !carriesSeed;
}

// return true if state has 5 seeds
bool isValid() const
{
// ant can't carry a seed in top row if current square is empty
if (y == 0 && carriesSeed && !seedsTopRow[x])
return false;
// ant can't be without a seed in bottom row if current square has seed
if (y == gridSize - 1 && !carriesSeed && seedsBottomRow[x])
return false;

// if all seeds are in top row (final state) then the ant must be in the top row, too
if (isFinal() && y != 0)
return false;

// a total of five seeds
auto seeds = seedsTopRow.count() + seedsBottomRow.count();
if (carriesSeed)
seeds++;
if (seeds != gridSize)
return false;

// all tests passed
return true;
}

// convert to string (for debugging purposes only, not needed anymore)
std::string toString() const
{
// position
auto result = std::to_string(x) + "," + std::to_string(y);

// flags
if (isFinal())
result += "!";
else if (carriesSeed)
result += "+";
else
result += " ";

// seeds on the ground
result += " ";
for (size_t i = 0; i < seedsTopRow.size(); i++)
result += std::to_string(seedsTopRow[i]);
result += " ";
for (size_t i = 0; i < seedsBottomRow.size(); i++)
result += std::to_string(seedsBottomRow[i]);

return result;
}
};

int main()
{
// how many seeds need to be transported from the bottom to the top row
std::cin >> movedSeeds;

std::cout << std::fixed << std::setprecision(6);

// manually tuned threshold - exit computation if sufficient precision has been reached
const double Epsilon = 0._PHONE_;

const auto AllBits = (1 << gridSize) - 1;

// ant starts in the middle, all seeds in bottom row
State initial;
initial.x = 2;
initial.y = 2;
initial.carriesSeed = false;
initial.seedsTopRow = 0;
initial.seedsBottomRow = AllBits;

// generate all states
std::map<Hash, State> states;
for (unsigned int x = 0; x < gridSize; x++)
for (unsigned int y = 0; y < gridSize; y++)
for (auto carriesSeed = 0; carriesSeed <= 1; carriesSeed++)
for


Desktop version
Home arrow Computer Science arrow A Practical Guide to TPM 2.0
Password Authorization: The Simplest Authorization
Password authorizations are the simplest authorizations, so I will describe them first. This section presents the password authorization lifecycle: how to create a password authorized entity, how to alter the authorization for an existing entity, and how to use a password authorization to authorize an action.
Password Authorization Lifecycle
A password authorization has a very simple lifecycle: create an entity using a password as the authorization, and then authorize actions on the entity. In more detail, the high-level steps required to create and use a password authorization are as follows:
1. Create an entity that will use an authorization value, or change the authorization value for an existing entity. This step is typically performed once per entity.
2. Authorize actions using the password authorized entity. This step can be performed multiple times for a particular entity and can occur any time after the entity's password has been set, whether by creating the entity or by changing its authorization.
First let's look at step 1, creating an entity to use a password authorization or altering the password for an existing entity.
Creating a Password Authorized Entity
To create an entity, use the following commands: TPM2_CreatePrimary, TPM2_Create, and TPM2_NV_DefineSpace.6 Each of these has a parameter field for passing in the authValue that will be used to authorize actions on the entity. This authValue can be used either as a simple plaintext password or as an input to an HMAC authorization, but since this section is describing a password session, it just describes its use as a password. HMAC authorizations are described after we finish with passwords.
Here are some more details about the three TPM commands used to create entities:
- TPM2_CreatePrimary is used to create primary objects (objects directly under the primary seed) in a hierarchy. The USER authorization can be a password authorization if the
inPublic parameter's userWithAuth attribute is set; this means authorization for actions that require the USER role can be performed by a password or HMAC. The authValue, a password in this case, is passed in by setting the userAuth field of the inSensitive parameter to the password.
- TPM2_Create is used to create objects that can be loaded into the TPM. The authorization type, userWithAuth, and the authValue are configured by setting the same fields used by TPM2_CreatePrimary.
- TPM2_NV_DefineSpace is used to define an NV index. A password authorization can be used if the attributes TPMA_NV_AUTHREAD and/or TPMA_NV_AUTHWRITE are set. The input parameter, authValue (the password), is passed in as the auth parameter of the TPM2_NV_DefineSpace command.
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Related topics


cf.List.match_by_ncvar
List.match_by_ncvar(*ncvars)[source]
Whether or not the construct has a netCDF variable name.
New in version 3.0.0.
Parameters:
ncvars: optional
Define one or more conditions on the netCDF variable name.
A netCDF variable name is specified by a string (e.g. 'lat'), etc.); a Query object (e.g. cf.eq('lon')); or a compiled regular expression (e.g. re.compile('^t')) that is compared with the construct's netCDF variable name via re.search.
The condition is satisfied if the netCDF variable name, as returned by the nc_get_variable method, exists and equals the condition value.
Returns:
bool
Whether or not at least one of the conditions are met.
Examples:
>>> f.match_by_ncvar('t')
>>> f.match_by_ncvar(re.compile('^t'))
>>> f.match_by_ncvar('t', 'time')


text:
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
|President of the|
Historically, Landes was part of Gascony. It was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.
- Prefecture website (in French)
- Conseil Général website (in French)
Landes is also the name of a commune in the Charente-Maritime département, in France.
The contents of this article is licensed from _URL_ under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details


text: The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption had serious consequences to civil aviation. This has initiated a lot of research on volcanic ash forecast in recent years. Ensemble-based data assimilation uses the observation data to improve the parameter and state estimation and subsequently the volcanic ash forecast accuracy. Due to the computational complexity of ensemble-based algorithms and the large scale of real-life applications, application of these methods usually introduces a large computational cost, particularly in the analysis step of assimilation processes. Because the other time-consuming part in the single CPU case, the forecast step, can be efficiently and easily parallelized. In this study, we focus on speeding up of the analysis step. For volcanic ash assimilation of aircraft-based measurements, the most time-consuming part in the analysis step has been shown to be the computation of the Kalman gain matrix. After a careful study on the characteristics of ensemble ash states, we propose a model-reduced Kalman gain (MR-Gain) approach which transforms the ensemble state matrix into a low-rank matrix by a multiplication with an index matrix which recorded the sparsity information of the ensemble state matrix, and thus the computational cost of all the ensemble-related matrix multiplications are reduced. After the computation of Kalman gain, using the previously recorded state index, the full analyzed ensemble states are reconstructed. The result shows the MR-Gain approach is exact, which can be used to replace the original full matrix with a much low computation cost. Computer experiments show that the computing time for the analysis step with the new approach is a factor of ten times faster than the conventional analysis step. The result also shows that with the accelerated analysis step in volcanic ash assimilation system, the total amount of computing time for volcanic ash forecast can be significantly reduced by up to a factor of 5.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


Leaky city plumbing raises Ontario water bills by up to a third on average, new study shows
Aging, leaky and crumbling pipes cost the average household in Ontario up to a third more on its monthly water utility bills, according to a new report on the state of the province's water infrastructure.
56-page RCCAO report says hundreds of millions of litres of drinking water wasted daily
This watermain break along a stretch of Eglinton Avenue in Toronto closed a 100-metre stretch of busy thoroughfare in 2018. A new study says the city has 1,400 watermain breaks a year, almost four a day. (Tony Smyth/CBC)
Aging, leaky and crumbling pipes cost the average household in Ontario up to a third more on its monthly water utility bills, according to a new report by a think-tank created by a consortium of provincial construction unions and contractors.
50 and not so fabulous:
The report said nearly half of all water mains in Ontario are at least half a century old, which is the average age for failure.
The study, on the state of the province's water infrastructure, looked at problems within Ontario's 444 municipalities and doesn't include Indigenous communities, which have struggled with access to clean, reliable drinking water for decades.
The 56-page report was paid for and published this month by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO). It suggests communities need more money to maintain, repair and replace aging and leaking plumbing that wastes hundreds of millions of litres of clean drinking water a day, and taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year.
In Toronto alone, the study said, it's estimated the city has been losing 103 million litres of clean water per day for the past 15 years.
'Huge amount of waste'
"It's a huge amount of waste, not only in the amount of water being spilled, but also in the energy being used to pressurize these pipes," said Tamer El-Diraby, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto and the study's lead author.
This 2018 images shows a collapsed section of O'Connor Street in Ottawa, as a result of a watermain break. (CBC)
It's not just energy and water, but also repairs and time. Between Canada and the U.S., the study points out, the two countries average 700 watermain breaks a day, costing more than $10 billion a year to repair. A British study estimated traffic delays from utility construction cost the country $2.3 billion US each year.
Leaky pipes:
The cost of water leakage makes up to a tenth to a third of the average water bill in Ontario. In some municipalities, up to half the bill was due to leaky plumbing, the study said.
Watermain breaks however, are only part of the story when it comes to leakage. The study suggests a hole in a water pipe as small as 1.5 mm can waste up to 3,570 litres of water in 24 hours and cost $14.54 a day.
Toronto loses anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent of total drinking water supply to leakage each year, or about 103 million litres per day. Across Ontario, system leakage is estimated at anywhere between 10 to 40 per cent, according to the study.
El-Diraby said it was too difficult to rank which Ontario municipalities were doing better or worse in terms of managing their water infrastructure with any kind of accuracy.
Bad pipes:
The study said Chatham-Kent had the highest portion of its water infrastructure in poor or worse condition, including 37 per cent that had 'expired.' In Windsor, 27 per cent of its plumbing is still operational, despite being 'beyond its useful life.'
Instead, he broke it down in terms of larger and smaller municipalities. While both are experiencing resource shortfalls in terms of managing their water systems, the problem is particularly acute in rural communities, where density is low and there are minimal resources and training to properly maintain a vast network of aging water infrastructure.
"They have this double problem," said El-Diraby. "They don't have enough money to do the most basic analysis and they also do not have the expertise to do that analysis."
While larger cities usually have the knowhow, they lack proper funding, according to El-Diraby, who points to London, Ont., as an example of a community blessed with a highly competent team that gets about half the funding it needs to do its job.
Municipalities don't have funds to replace old pipes
"They have 50 per cent or less than the money they need to keep the assets in good shape. So while we made great gains in the last 20 years since the days of Walkerton, with the current funding levels, it is expected the average quality of water and waste water assets in London is going to decline."
El-Diraby was referring to the Walkerton water crisis over two decades ago that caused Canada's worst e-coli outbreak.
Toronto loses 103 million litres of drinking water a day to system leakage, enough for the daily needs of 250,000 people or to fill 15,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. (John Badcock/CBC )
According to the RCCAO report, a lack of money is the most chronic problem when it comes to the state of the province's water infrastructure.
"Water infrastructure is a municipal expenditure and responsibility," said Krystle Caputo, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, in a written statement to CBC News.
One of the solutions would be to raise the price of water, which many municipalities are already doing. But El-Diraby points out that many municipal councils lack the will to raise prices lest they raise the ire of voters.
"We need to relook the funding scheme. This is not a call for privatization, but a call to rethink and innovate with new ideas."
Holey moley:
A hole as small as 1.5 mm in a water pipe wastes 3,570 L a day and costs $14.54, the study said. A nearly 5-mm hole wastes 32,130 L in 24 hours and costs $130.88.
He suggests municipalities start making water infrastructure part of smart city systems, where city crews don't have to wait until a watermain break happens to fix aging pipes, or the pressure in the water system could be used to generate energy used in electric vehicles.
If that doesn't get people's attention, El-Diraby suggests ratepayers can avoid paying the one-tenth to one-third extra on their water bills if municipalities paid for repairs and replacements at the same rate.
"If the government takes the same amount of money, or even a fraction of that, and put it into fixing the pipes, we will not need to increase water pricing and we will not need to increase property taxes.
"We pay for the leakage no matter what, but it's more efficient if we direct this money not towards wasted water, but fixing the water system. The return on investment goes higher."
Colin Butler
Video Journalist
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IBM Developer Blog
Learn how a feedback loop from your application to the AI services enabling it can help the system improve automatically without significant investment.
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems thrive on data, and usually the best source of this data is feedback from users interacting with your applications. Creating a virtuous feedback loop from your application to the AI services enabling it can help the system improve automatically without significant investment. Watson Discovery helps create this feedback loop through a set of new logging and events APIs, metrics generation, and Continuous Relevancy Training. With these capabilities, you can use Discovery to instrument and collect data from your application to see how users are interacting, including the queries they run and the results they select. This data is then automatically used by Discovery to generate metrics on usage, and perform Relevancy Training to improve the order of results returned.
figure 1
It all starts with collecting data. Discovery enables the data collection today through two ways.
 1. Automated data collection of queries and associated results. Any queries run against a Discovery environment get logged (unless opted out) and can be viewed from the /logs endpoint. These queries are valuable for analyzing user behavior and understanding opportunities to improve content or configuration.
 2. Collection of interaction data through the events API. Discovery provides an API that can be embedded in your application to track events that can be used as signals to understand usage and improve the service. This Events API currently supports tracking click events. Click events usually are associated with an action where a user selects a result from the list returned from Discovery, for example, selecting to see the full document text or clicking to expand a section of a document. These click events provide an indication of results that users believe to have some relevance, with the order of clicks also providing insight into relevance.
Taken together, this data helps provide a view into user behavior. These data points can then be used to generate metrics like those available through the Analytics tab in Discovery today. These metrics are an important way to track the performance of your application over time. They include:
 - Total queries run: See the volume of queries users are running over time to understand adoption and trends
 - Total queries with an associated event: Similar to a click-through rate, this can be an indicator of quality of results being returned and provide information on how the results might be improving
 - List of common query words: Used to see what kinds of queries users are doing so that you can focus efforts on improving content or training
Discovery also can use the feedback data collected to perform Continuous Relevancy Training to automatically improve results for certain types of queries. Continuous Relevancy Training learns from the collected data to rerank document results in the best possible order.
Continuous Relevancy Training uses state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to learn from fewer interactions. This means that different size organizations can use continuous learning without needing to have operations at global web scale. It can be used in across-enterprise use cases like customer service agent assist to provide agents with more relevant results from huge amounts of documentation to help them resolve customer issues quickly.
To use Continuous Relevancy Training, your data collection needs to be set up as previously mentioned and must meet the following requirements:
 - Collect at least 1000 queries with an associated click on a result in 30 days
 - Query Discovery at the environment level with the complete set of collections in that environment and track events at this level, too, so there is consistency between training and query
Continuous Relevancy Training combines the query and events logs to create a training set and then produces a model for reranking similar to one that can be created explicitly using Relevancy Training. To make the best use of Continuous Relevancy Training, there are a few considerations to keep in mind:
 - The query logs and events let you collect data on a larger scale, so it is not necessary to review individual events. Discovery can use the volume of data to find signals even if there are some ambiguous interactions. Instead, focus on getting a great data collection mechanism so that the events represent your users' selections appropriately.
 - Labeling your data can help manage it going forward. For example, you can remove a set of data from test instances or automated processes that might not reflect real production users. Labeling is done through a customer-id header passed with each API request to Discovery.
 - You can test whether the model is improving results by comparing an environment-level query using natural_language_query to one using just the query parameter (natural_language_query only is supported for training). The boost in accuracy between using those two parameters is the benefit the new model gives you.
 - Explicit relevancy training (done through the training_data endpoint) is still valuable in cases where you are only querying a single collection. This form of training can be kept more curated while the continuous training can improve with behavior over time. Currently, data collected through feedback is not combined with training data explicitly provided.
Continuous Relevancy Training automates the feedback loop from your application. Interactions can automatically feed back to Discovery and be consumed for training. This provides a valuable improvement in relevance without as much investment in large, ongoing manual training. Get started creating your improvement loop today with Watson Discovery!
Note: Logging, Metrics and Continuous Relevancy Training are available in Watson Discovery for Salesforce today. Continuous Relevancy Training is available for only Advanced Plan instances with size S or greater.


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A woman who is aiming to become Ireland's first astronaut is launching a book for children in Dublin.
Dr Norah Patten from Mayo will be at the Explorium in Sandyford tomorrow, September 21 at 2pm to reveal details about her new book 'Shooting for the Stars'.
And if you have any budding space explorers in the family, they'll love this event to meet Norah and take pictures with her.
Shooting for the Stars follows Norah as she brings us on a journey high above the earth and into space. Learn about the wonders of space travel, astronaut training and life without gravity.
The book tells young readers all about Norah, space and what the life of an astronaut is like.
Norah said: "Since I was eleven years old, I've been obsessed with space and exploration and rockets. I want to go to space, and I am doing everything I can to make that happen.
"Come with me on a journey to the stars!"
Dr Norah Patten is an aeronautical engineer, a faculty member at the International Space University and a citizen scientist-astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere).
She has participated in several citizen-science campaigns including microgravity research flights, spacesuit testing and evaluation, and spacecraft egress.
Norah was 11 years of age when she visited NASA on a family trip to the United States. From that moment on she was hooked on all things space.


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Tiger nuts are very popular in Nigeria and in countries like Spain and Europe. Despite its name, tiger nut is not a nut but is actually the tuber of a plant that is known as yellow nutsedge. Tiger nuts can be eaten raw or cooked and can also be used to make tiger nut drink. Apart from the fact that tiger nuts have a delicious taste, eating them can do certain things in the body. According to Webmd, here are some health benefits of eating tiger nuts.
1) It manages allergy: An allergy is a disorder of the immune system that is usually caused by reactions to substance. Tiger nuts can help manage allergies by replacing foods that causes allergic reactions.
2) It can fight bacteria: According to studies, tiger nuts have antibacterial properties that can protect against bacteria like salmonella and E. coli.
3) It reliefs constipation: Constipation is when the intestines become filled with hardened faeces and this makes it difficult to pass stool. However, tiger nuts contains a high amount of dietary fiber that can improve digestion and also prevent constipation.


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Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the corneal morphology features and define mutations in the UbiA prenyltransferase domain–containing 1 (UBIAD1) gene in patients with Schnyder corneal dystrophy from a Polish population.
Methods: Five affected and 15 unaffected members originating from 3 families with Schnyder corneal dystrophy were included in the study. Phenotype analysis consisted of visual acuity, slit-lamp biomicroscopy with photography, time domain optical coherence tomography, spectral domain optical coherence tomography, and confocal microscopy. Three patients underwent a penetrating keratoplasty. Corneal buttons obtained from the penetrating keratoplasty were processed for light microscopy.
Results: A novel mutation I245N of the UBIAD1 gene was revealed in 1 proband and associated with the phenotype without central corneal opacities. The analysis of the other patients showed the N102S mutation. In vivo corneal morphology analysis using optical coherence tomography and confocal microscopy confirmed the presence of multiple crystalline corneal deposits in all affected corneas. The histological examination revealed multiple empty widenings of the corneal lamellae that could represent lipids removed from the specimen.
Conclusions: N102S may also be a mutation hotspot in the Polish population, as in other previously reported populations. Corneal crystals formed a characteristic pattern on optical coherence tomography scans.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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As the European organic market accelerates its growth, consumers are increasingly looking for produce that can be trusted, sustainably produced and environmentally friendly. Over the last decade, organic research has shifted to faster growing markets in Asia, despite fraudulent organic food still being an issue in Europe. This study addresses this gap by investigating the differences in consumers trust in organic meat and vegetables across 4 European Countries (Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK). In this study an online cross-sectional survey utilising validated tools was designed and data collected from 2071 respondents, approximately representative in terms of gender, age and region per country. Results identified between country differences in trust and beliefs in the 'organicness' of the produce. Overall, consumers had a high levels of trust in certified organic food chain and produce, and strong beliefs in the benefits of certification bodies; however this differed between countries. Italy and Poland respondents reported higher overall trust and preferred EU certification; whilst the UK and Germany reported lower trust and preferred their national certification bodies. Similarly, there were interesting differences between the products and national preferences. The findings highlight opportunities especially in Germany and the UK, for private industry, national and world-level bodies to improve the sustainability and growth of the organic food market.
- Organic crops
- Consumer Science


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Is EDM right for 2-axis metal cutoff?
Many people look at the topic of wire EDM cutting in terms of how the method stacks up against laser cutting, 3D manufacturing, or traditional machining for multi-axis shaping of metal. But for us at Metal Cutting Corporation — and our customers — the topic of wire EDM cutting pros and cons is all about 2-axis cutoff and how the EDM method compares with other 2-axis precision metal cutting options.
Wire EDM Cutting Advantages
With the wire EDM cutting process, controlled and rapidly repeating electrical charges are used to remove material from electrically conductive materials. It is a very precise method for the right applications, such as for 2-axis cutting of small parts with tight tolerances at high volumes. For example, for mass production of pins, probes, and other small, solid metal parts with diameters under 0.020" (0.50 mm), wire EDM can deliver:
- Highly repeatable lengths without end deformation, distortion, or delamination
- Far better cost-effectiveness than a method such as laser cutting
For small diameter solids, wire EDM cutting also offers extremely high measures of central tendency, for remarkably high Ppk/Cpk values. For example, EDM not only can cut a precious metal wire of 0.004" (0.1 mm) diameter to a length of 1" (25 mm), but also can do so while achieving a length tolerance of ±0.001", radiused ends, and a Ppk well over the standard minimum of 1.33.
Wire EDM can cut diameters ranging from a few thousandths of an inch to several inches, to lengths from 0.5" (12 mm) to 18.0" (450 mm) and with high dimensional accuracy. Because it does not involve a wheel or saw teeth, the wire EDM cut procedure generally does not leave any burrs, and the kerf width is usually 0.004" to 0.012" (0.1 to 0.3 mm).
Wire EDM cutting is alsoversatile in the hardness of the conductive metals it can cut with relative ease, ranging from copper to the hardest materials including molybdenum and tungsten. EDM also gives a natural radius to the end cut; this may or may not be an advantage, depending on the application.
The most widely known negative is that wire EDM cutting is still an extremely slow method. Modern EDM machines with AWT (automatic wire threading) and CNC capability can be programmed to work "lights out," to help mitigate the slow cutting speed. However, for very high volumes of parts with diameters larger than 0.020″ (0.5 mm), a method such as thin-wheel abrasive cutting might be preferred.
Due to the nature of wire EDM cutting — removing material by using rapidly repeating, controlled electrical charges along a strand of metal wire — the method is limited to electrically conductive materials. Therefore, any material that is a composite or coated with a dielectric is not feasible for EDM.
The total EDM environment — including the wire, deionized water, and workpiece — is charged. The wire's repeated electrical discharges can heat the target area of the workpiece to thousands of degrees. This can result in thermal stress to neighboring portions and cause some amount of waste. The wire itself also suffers damage, so the EDM machine must constantly feed new wire.
Depending on the metal being cut, another disadvantage of wire EDM cutting is that an oxide layer can form on the cut surface. This may require secondary cleaning, which adds to cost.
Wire EDM cutting is best for materials that are solid, so the method is not a good choice for cutoff of tubing. To maintain conductivity, the parts to be cut using EDM must be held firmly in place. This creates significant risk of deformation to tubing. It can also cause the cutting wire to contact the workpiece — shorting out the cut, causing the cutting wire to break, and possibly causing a "step" in the workpiece.
Although you can fixture a tube can so that it rotates in the EDM machine, the method is optimized for more complex shapes and not cost-effective for simple 2-axis cutoff of tubing. In addition, the wire EDM method cannot do very short cutoffs, under 0.125" (3.175 mm), and does not produce quality cut end surface finishes. In fact, wire EDM cutting can result in surface roughness that is often characterized as "craters of the moon"!
So for applications such as medical device tubing that must be cut to very short lengths and have a very smooth end finish, a method such as thin-wheel abrasive metal cutting would deliver the necessary tight tolerance, burr-free results and a clean end cut without tube wall deformation.
A Myriad Of Options
Clearly, there are many advantages and disadvantages to wire EDM cutting as well as the other precision cutting methods that might be considered. So, does EDM make sense for 2-axis cutoff of small parts?
It depends! That's because the efficacy of ANY cutting method can vary greatly depending on the material you use and the desired results. Making the right choice requires an in-depth understanding of your application, its parameters, and the product's end use.
How does wire EDM cutting compare with other precision metal cutting methods? Keep reading to find out.


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Organic garden and Permaculture
Atlas Kasbah is the first permaculture project in southern Morocco. Since 2009, several international volunteers have succeeded in developing a garden of native plants that thrive thanks to techniques such as companionship: a vegetable garden, medicinal and aromatic plants, fruit trees and argan trees:
British expert A. Drew initiated the project, to implement landscape architecture and sustainable garden management;
American specialist M. Connoley focussed on increasing the irrigation potential of the plants and improving the soil;
Our whole team of Amazigh gardeners collaborated in field diagnostics and crop selection.
This protected ecosystem provides nesting sites for many species of bird.


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Welcome to FLAX's extensive reading system - "Fern Reader". This is still under development.How does the Fern Reader work?The Fern Reader allows English language learners to search for news articles that they would like to read about, and then analyses the found articles with a difficulty. This difficulty is calculated from a vocabulary model that evolves over time based on previous content read by this particular learner.When a learner reads an article, they click on a word to indicate that they are unfamiliar with this word, and a definition is then displayed to help learn the word. Likewise, if they don't click on a word, it is concluded that they are familiar with this word. The model is updated accordingly to reflect the degree of confidence that the learner knows this particular word.The Fern Reader is primarily based on a prototype system developed by Michael Walmsley, a PhD student at the University of Waikato, for Spanish language learners. Visit his site here or click here to read more about extensive reading.
You must be logged in to access this page.


Friction: A Force That Opposes Motion: Question Preview (ID: 18616)
Below is a preview of the questions contained within the game titled FRICTION: A FORCE THAT OPPOSES MOTION: Use This To Study For Your Quiz.To play games using this data set, follow the directions below. Good luck and have fun. Enjoy! [print these questions]
In which of the following activities is friciton harmful?
a) an eraser erasing b) car engine parts wearing out c) brakes stoppping a car d) a person walking
What is a force that opposes motion between two surfaces that are in contact?
a) motion b) velocity c) acceleration d) friction
Which of these is opposed by statce friction?
a) a worker pushing a non-moving box b) a pencil rolling on a table c) a dog running in a yard d) a chair sliding on a floor
Which would NOT be a way to reduce friction?
a) using ball bearings b) using sandpaper c) pouring sand on ice d) lubricating with oil
Which are the two factors that determine that amound of friction?
a) hills and valleys and the roughness of the surfaces b) the force and how much surfaces come in contact c) the force and the weight exerted on the surfaces d) the force and the roughness of the surfaces
Which of these is opposed by kinetic friction?
a) a box sliding on a floor b) a child leaning on a building c) a book sitting on a table d) a cat standing in a yard
In which of the following activites is friction helpful?
a) soil erosion b) engine parts wearing out c) car tires moving a car forward d) holes developing in your socks
Does the use of sandpaper on a piece of wood demostrate fricton?
a) False b) True c) d)
Is all matter effected by gravity?
a) True b) False c) d)
There are two Newton laws of motion
a) True b) False c) d)
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- Versatile: Quickphos can be used in practically grains and many commodities
- Effective Control: Quickphos is highly effective against insects, mites and rodents.
- Uniform Distribution: When used per labeled instructions, phosphine generated from Quickphos disperses uniformly in all directions within the treated area.
- Manageable Risk: Quickphos contains an inert material, ammonium carbonate, which releases ammonia the applicator can smell.
- Controlled Reaction: Stabilizing ingredients in Quickphos moderate the generation of phosphine gas
Quickphos is a fumigant designed to control insects, burrowing pests and rodents in stored commodities. The active ingredient, Aluminum Phosphide, when exposed to the air, combines with moisture in the air to generate phosphine gas. Phosphine fumigation is recognized world-wide as the most effective method of control for grain pests, saving thousands of tons of grains used for human consumption. Quickphos Sachet


Pages
Underfrequency and its effects
Underfrequency refers to a condition where the frequency of the AC supply drops to a value that is lower than its defined value such as 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Underfrequency is usually caused by overloading a power source or problems with a prime mover such as engines or turbines.
The following are some of the effects of underfrequency
 - High flux density in electric machinery, thereby causing higher magnetizing currents.
 - High core loss and over-heating of the machines and possible failure.
 - Lower efficiency
 - Reduction in speed
 - The fault level increases due to reduced reactance
 Underfrequency situations can be avoided by the installation of underfrequency relays which isolate systems and machinery in the event of an underfrequency.


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By Michele McKinley, Advocates for Health in Action (AHA). Photos courtesy of Cary's Pocket Community Garden.
Cary, NC – With spring just around the corner, it's time to hit the dirt. In the garden, that is.
Whether you're a new or seasoned gardener, you may want to check out Dig In, the third annual event all about starting and maintaining community and backyard gardens in the Triangle.
Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) presents Dig In on Saturday, March 10, 8:30 am-12:00 pm at Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh. Dig In features urban farming experts, hands-on workshops and booths for anyone who wants to build and maintain a community garden or gain expertise for success in his or her home garden.
Registration ($10 per person) is open online at www.advocatesforhealthinaction, but space is limited.
What are community gardens?
Community gardens are urban, suburban and rural gardens where members grow food in a shared garden plot or in their own individual garden plots, depending on a given garden's structure. Community gardens are found in neighborhoods, schools, churches, workplaces, hospitals, community centers and youth centers. Gardens provide access to fresh, healthy produce and enhance a sense of community and connection to the environment—they come in many shapes and sizes!
In and Around Cary
Cary, Morrisville and Apex are all home to community gardens (plus a variety of school gardens), and many are starting their 2012 planning now and invite new members to join them.
- Cary's Pocket Community Garden
- Cary Senior Center Community Garden (for gardeners 55+),
- Gracious Harvest Community Garden
- Whole Foods Market-Cary
- Morrisville Community Garden
- Simple Gifts Community Garden (Apex)
Many community gardens in the area participate in programs where gardeners donate extra produce from their harvest to area food pantries and organizations such as the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle through the Plant a Row for the Hungry program.
"Featuring urban farming experts, Dig In is a tremendous resource to gardeners and those who want to grow healthy, local foods for their communities and their families," commented Laura Aiken, interim director of AHA and director of regional community relations for WakeMed Health & Hospitals. "Community gardens are increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables," Aiken continued. "Schools, churches, neighborhoods, community groups and other nonprofits can capitalize on the excitement around sustainable food systems, connect people with where their food comes from and promote environmentally friendly living."
Dig In includes workshops are offered in two tracks: Track 1: Starting a Community Garden and Track 2: Taking Your Garden to the Next Level.
Track 1 workshops include starting a community and school gardens, composting, and raised beds and container gardens. Track 2 workshops include making money from gardens, preserving foods, engaging youth and seniors in the garden, keeping gardens growing.
Plus, all registrants will take part in a hands-on cooking lesson from Whole Foods Market-Cary and Whole Foods Market-Raleigh (Wade Ave.) about how to enjoy the bounty of the garden. In addition, a variety of educational booths about gardening, local food, composting and more are available at Dig In.
Advocates for Health in Action (AHA) fosters and supports community efforts to make healthy eating and physical activity the way of life in Wake County. AHA is a group of more than 50 diverse organizations and community members who are shaping the environment throughout Wake County to ensure available and affordable access to healthful foods and physical activity for all community members.


display: block; margin: 0px auto; text-align: center;" />

 Figure 2: IBM Process Designer web editor positioning tab

 Positioning

 Each coach view now has these positioning parameters. You can enter, in percentages, how high or wide the coach view will be. This is enforced on all of the form factors. In addition, you can specify how overflow data will be handled in a coach view.

 Figure 3: Closer look of the positioning parameters

 You can see how this affects the rendering of the coach form in the screen shots that follow:

 Figure 4: Large form factor

 Figure 5: Medium form factor

 Figure 6: Small form factor

 As stated earlier, all of the stock coach views (text, date and so forth) support positioning configuration settings.

 Responsive coach configuration parameters

 Certain controls can be configured for each form factor. Some controls allow you to choose different configuration parameters (the Configuration panel is located under the Positioning panel) for each form factor.

 For example, you can show the Date Time Picker control fully expanded (inline mode) for the large form factor:

 Figure 7: Date Time Picker control on a large form factor

 And, you can show the Date Time Picker control fully collapsed (on click mode) for the medium form factor:

 Figure 8: Date Time Picker control on a medium form factor

 Lite controls

 The stock controls are usable only on browsers and tablets, but not on smartphones. The stock controls in version 8.5.5 are responsive and supported on desktop or notebook browsers and the iPad Safari browser, but they are not currently supported on smartphones.

 A new set of coach views has been released as a technology preview. They are known as the “Lite Controls.” Eventually, they should be delivered in IBM BPM.

 Unlike the stock controls in the coaches toolkit, the lite controls in the lite coaches toolkit are not Dojo-based. These lite controls use a combination of HTML5, JavaScript, AngularJS, Angular UI Bootstrap and CSS to provide a responsive presentation that results in an optimal mobile and desktop user experience. They offer a more native look and feel with optimized performance on mobile devices.

 The key benefits are:

 Non-Dojo lightweight coach views targeted to deliver a more responsive experience on mobile devices

 Combined and minified JavaScript and CSS files

 Optimization to run on mobile networks (with a minimal number of network requests and minimized size of data transferred over network to optimize bandwidth usage)

 Testing and support for mobile form factors

 Accelerated development of client-ready mobile experiences

 No overhead for rarely used capabilities like non-Gregorian calendar

 Input controls that look native to the device

 The lite controls toolkit can be found on the <a href="_URL_ wiki. Please note that this link will take you to the login screen for the IBM BPM Community wiki. If you do not have an account for the IBM BPM Community, you can sign up for one from there. Here is the mission statement for the IBM BPM Community:

 Since 2006, this community site has provided a vital resource of practitioner-developed content to help organizations of all sizes make the most out of their investment in process innovation. Become a member now (it's free) and get started.

 The IBM BPM Community site is by the people, for the people. The more you put in, the more you get out. Member contributions are highly valued, and we want your contributions! Watch spaces and sign up for the daily digest to follow activities.

 Have you tried designing responsive coaches in IBM BPM? Share your experiences or ask a question below, or continue the conversation with me on Twitter <a href="_URL_

 This blog post contributed by Owen Cline, a member of the IBM Software Services for Websphere team based in San Diego, California. Prior to IBM Business Process Manager (BPM) 8.5.5, it was difficult to develop coaches for multiple form factors (browsers,... 1 0 7765 urn:lsid:ibm.com:blogs:entries-77c96102-9a28-478c-b0fa-719551e9a4a3 The Mobile Frontier 2015-04-17T09:11:48-04:00 urn:lsid:ibm.com:blogs:entry-8fb8163f-e018-4fbf-b721-10295ae5e6e3 Casting a hybrid IBM Worklight application to Chromecast Christian Karasiewicz 270005XS4E active false Christian Karasiewicz 270005XS4E active false Comment Entries application/atom+xml;type=entry Likes true 2014-09-09T08:36:00-04:00 2014-09-09T15:52:46-04:00 <di


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Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common innate liver tumor. Due to improved surgical techniques, even extended resections are feasible, and more patients can be treated with curative intent. As the liver is the central metabolic organ, preoperative metabolic assessment is crucial for risk stratification. Sarcopenia, obesity and sarcopenic obesity characterize body composition and metabolic status. Here we present the impact of body composition on survival after liver resection in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Methods: A retrospective database analysis of 70 patients who were assigned for liver resection due to hepatocellular carcinoma was conducted. For assessment of sarcopenia and obesity, skeletal muscle surface area was measured at lumbar vertebra 3 level (L3) in preoperative four-phase contrast enhanced abdominal CT scans, and L3 muscle index and body fat percentage were calculated.
Results: Univariate analysis comparing the survival curves using the score test demonstrated superior postoperative overall survival for sarcopenic (P=0.035) and sarcopenic obese (P=0.048) patients as well as a trend favoring obese (P=0.130) subjects. Whereas multivariate analysis could not identify significant difference in postoperative survival regarding sarcopenia, obesity or sarcopenic obesity. Only large tumor size, multifocal disease and male gender were risk factors for long-term survival.
Conclusions: Sarcopenia, obesity and sarcopenic obesity are indeed no risk factors for poor postoperative survival in this study. Our data do not support the evaluation of sarcopenia, obesity and sarcopenic obesity before liver resection in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. (C) 2018 First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
- Sarcopenic obesity
- Liver resection
- SKELETAL-MUSCLE DEPLETION
- SARCOPENIC OBESITY
- CRYPTOGENIC CIRRHOSIS
- MASS INDEX
- TUMOR SIZE


[<<][c][>>][..]
Wed Aug 25 14:21:32 CEST 2010
Gensym in C
To make iteration macros for abstract data structures on top of the
'for' keyword, it helps to be able to define unique symbols to store
the iteration state object. I.e.
#define X_COLLECTION_FOR_(_list, _x, _xl) \
 struct x_list *_xl; \
 for(_xl = (*_list), _x = _xl ? _xl->x : NULL; \
 _x; \
 _xl = _xl->next, _x = _xl ? _xl->x : NULL)
#define X_COLLECTION_FOR(list, x) X_COLLECTION_FOR_(list, x, __xl__)
The '__xl__' symbol above is inserted into the macro invocation name
context as a local variable and might clash. Is there a way to
properly solve this problem?
The following seems to work:
#define __GENSYM2(x,y) x##y
#define __GENSYM1(x,y) __GENSYM2(x,y)
#define GENSYM(x) __GENSYM1(x,__COUNTER__)
The indirection is about prescan[3]:
 "If an argument is stringified or concatenated, the prescan does
 not occur. If you want to expand a macro, then stringify or
 concatenate its expansion, you can do that by causing one macro to
 call another macro that does the stringification or concatenation."
[1] _URL_
[2] _URL_
[3] _URL_
[Reply][About]
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Historical data on timing of ringing of nestling birds
The dates at which nestling birds were historically ringed by volunteer ringers yields information about the timing of breeding seasons. The current dataset consists of ringing data of nestling birds over the period _PHONE_. Fieldnames are largely self-explanatory, data follows the EURING 2000+ code. For a detailed explanation and preferred citation, see the link in the field 'Relation', below, or paste the following URL in your browser _URL_ The dataset consisted of 157.978 records at 14-2-2014. More data will be added during 2014 and 2015.Belong to publication:... nioo ....
Date made available17 Feb 2014
Temporal coverage1911 - 1959
Date of data production1911 - 1959
Cite this


internal anal sphincter
The topic internal anal sphincter is discussed in the following articles:
anal canal
 - TITLE: anal canal (anatomy)
 - TITLE: human digestive system
 SECTION: Rectum and anus
 ...A second sphincter, the external anal sphincter, is composed of striated muscle and is divided into three parts known as the subcutaneous, superficial, and deep external sphincters. Thus, the internal sphincter is composed of smooth muscle and is innervated by the autonomic nervous system, while the external sphincters are of striated muscle and have somatic (voluntary) innervation...


@article {Osmond997, author = {Osmond, J. K. and Rydell, H. S. and Kaufman, M. I.}, title = {Uranium Disequilibrium in Groundwater: An Isotope Dilution Approach in Hydrologic Investigations}, volume = {162}, number = {3857}, pages = {997--999}, year = {1968}, doi = {10.1126/science._PHONE_.997}, publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science}, abstract = {The distribution and environmental disequilibrium patterns of naturally occurring uranium isotopes (U234 and U238) in waters of the Floridan aquifer suggest that variations in the ratios of isotopic activity and concentrations can be used quantitatively to evaluate mixing proportions of waters from differing sources. Uranium is probably unique in its potential for this approach, which seems to have general usefulness in hydrologic investigations.}, issn = {0036-8075}, URL = {_URL_ eprint = {_URL_ journal = {Science} }


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The product would also be the first to use printed nanotube transistors
A version of the RFID tags slated to hit the market later this year would be the first product to use printed transistors based on carbon nanotubes. Printing means the application of different layers of antenna coils, nanotube inks, and capacitors and diodes.
The researchers at Sunchon National University in South Korea successfully printed out the plastic RFID tags using common industrial methods such as roll-to-roll printing, ink-jet printing, and silicone rubber-stamping.
These processes churn out tags for just three cents per piece, but the group ultimately hopes to pass the one-cent milestone by figuring out how to lay down all the nanotube ink layers in one go during the roll-to-roll printing. Many RFID tags today cost anywhere from 7 cents to 15 cents, if not more.
But some hurdles remain before you'll see these newer tags at checkout lines. The current prototypes are three times the size of a typical barcode, and can only store one bit of information -- just enough to either give a yes or no response to an RFID reader. Such tags also only work with readers up to 10 centimeters away, because of their weak power signals.
That should change with the 64-bit tag set to come out next year, and then ultimately a 96-bit tag, a real barcode-killer.
Even the pricier RFID tags today have already found use in EZPass highway tolls and as anti-counterfeiting devices.
[via Technology Review]


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Fantastic Flowers, Written & Illustrated by Susan Stockdale Children's nonfiction/nature, Ages 4-94 222.peachtree-online.com
Learning to see involves looking closely and learning the language to describe what is right before our eyes. Fantastic Flowers is a perfect introduction for budding gardeners to explore the blooms in the flower beds of the world. Susan Stockdale's beautiful illustration of the shapes of flowers that look like upside down pants, prim ballerinas, or wild baboons introduces early readers to an imaginative view of nature. A flower is not just a flower but can be compared to the shapes of other known objects. A hybrid Osteospermum spirals out in the shape of spoons, the hybrid Calceolaria represents a purse with a flap. Teaching children to name what they see helps them remember and will spark their curiosity to look more closely at the beauty of the world.


text:
Abstract : In this thesis, a study of the atomization of cylindrical water jets with tools belonging to the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems is proposed. This original study begin with an introduction on the field of atomization and the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems. The first part of this work allows to define precisely the measured quantity recorded by a light scattering technique, by means of analytic and numerical computations. An artefact on the measurements, limitating their interpretation for an excited and a free water jet, is identified. However, the first results are in agreement with the theories (Rayleigh and Weber) and show that the dynamics of perturbations, evolving along the jet, is characterised by "intermittent bursts".
To remove the artefact, a shadow technique is developped and compared to the precedent one. The measurements are then shown to be linearly related to the jet diameter for any perturbation amplitude. Type-I phase intermittency is pointed out. In the case of free jets, this intermittency is also observed although in a less obvious way. When the flow velocity profile acts as the principal components on the jet breakup mechanisms, the deterministic dynamics is lost. In this case, we also observe that early initiations of perturbations imply a reducing of the breakup length.
A statistical symbolic dynamics allows to precise the nature of the behaviours observed for different control parameters in the case of free jets : the dynamics of the jet subject to the velocity profile action, which can be seen as a destabilisation of the flow toward turbulence, is of stochastic nature ; while deterministic dynamics could be described by a complete binary symbolic dynamics.
Key words : Nonlinear dynamical systems - Phase intermittency - Symbolic dynamics - Instability - Cylindrical liquid jet - Shadow/Extinction technique - Atomization.
Jérome Godelle is now "Ingénieur de recherche Dynamique du véhicule" for Renault.


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Amazon DynamoDB
Developer Guide (API Version 2012-08-10)
Example: Batch Operations Using AWS SDK for .NET Document Model API
Example: Batch Write Using AWS SDK for .NET Document Model
The following C# code example illustrates single table and multi-table batch write operations. The example performs the following tasks:
 - To illustrate a single table batch write, it adds two items to the ProductCatalog table.
 - To illustrate a multi-table batch write, it adds an item to both the Forum and Thread tables and deletes and item from the Thread table.
If you followed the steps in Creating Tables and Loading Sample Data, you already have the ProductCatalog, Forum and Thread tables created. You can also create these sample tables programmatically. For more information, see Creating Example Tables and Uploading Data Using the AWS SDK for .NET. For step-by-step instructions to test the following sample, see .NET Code Samples.
Example
Copy
using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using Amazon.DynamoDBv2; using Amazon.DynamoDBv2.DocumentModel; using Amazon.Runtime; namespace com.amazonaws.codesamples { class MidLevelBatchWriteItem { private static AmazonDynamoDBClient client = new AmazonDynamoDBClient(); static void Main(string[] args) { try { SingleTableBatchWrite(); MultiTableBatchWrite(); } catch (AmazonDynamoDBException e) { Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } catch (AmazonServiceException e) { Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } catch (Exception e) { Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } Console.WriteLine("To continue, press Enter"); Console.ReadLine(); } private static void SingleTableBatchWrite() { Table productCatalog = Table.LoadTable(client, "ProductCatalog"); var batchWrite = productCatalog.CreateBatchWrite(); var book1 = new Document(); book1["Id"] = 902; book1["Title"] = "My book1 in batch write using .NET helper classes"; book1["ISBN"] = "902-11-11-1111"; book1["Price"] = 10; book1["ProductCategory"] = "Book"; book1["Authors"] = new List<string> { "Author 1", "Author 2", "Author 3" }; book1["Dimensions"] = "8.5x11x.5"; book1["InStock"] = new DynamoDBBool(true); book1["QuantityOnHand"] = new DynamoDBNull(); //Quantity is unknown at this time batchWrite.AddDocumentToPut(book1); // Specify delete item using overload that takes PK. batchWrite.AddKeyToDelete(12345); Console.WriteLine("Performing batch write in SingleTableBatchWrite()"); batchWrite.Execute(); } private static void MultiTableBatchWrite() { // 1. Specify item to add in the Forum table. Table forum = Table.LoadTable(client, "Forum"); var forumBatchWrite = forum.CreateBatchWrite(); var forum1 = new Document(); forum1["Name"] = "Test BatchWrite Forum"; forum1["Threads"] = 0; forumBatchWrite.AddDocumentToPut(forum1); // 2a. Specify item to add in the Thread table. Table thread = Table.LoadTable(client, "Thread"); var threadBatchWrite = thread.CreateBatchWrite(); var thread1 = new Document(); thread1["ForumName"] = "S3 forum"; thread1["Subject"] = "My sample question"; thread1["Message"] = "Message text"; thread1["KeywordTags"] = new List<string> { "S3", "Bucket" }; threadBatchWrite.AddDocumentToPut(thread1); // 2b. Specify item to delete from the Thread table. threadBatchWrite.AddKeyToDelete("someForumName", "someSubject"); // 3. Create multi-table batch. var superBatch = new MultiTableDocumentBatchWrite(); superBatch.AddBatch(forumBatchWrite); superBatch.AddBatch(threadBatchWrite); Console.WriteLine("Performing batch write in MultiTableBatchWrite()"); superBatch.Execute(); } } }


Rules For Part Time Jobs For International Students In the UK
The United Kingdom has been the prime destination for education for a long long time. Many students dream of living and studying in London. However, the cost of living and studying here can get a little expensive, when compared to other countries. As a result, a lot of students decide to become employed, in order to have additional income during their stay here. According to employment law UK, students are allowed to work with certain restrictions. Below we have summarised some of the rules of working as an international student in the UK.
Jobs For International Students In the UK
The work laws for international students are ever changing, here we have summarised the latest rules that must be followed regarding students working hours uk:
 1. Students allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours:
 1. Full-time students, studying at a degree level or above.
 2. Students attending Short-Term studies abroad programme in the UK at an overseas Higher Education Institution.
 2. Students allowed to work a maximum of 10 hours:
 1. Full-time students, studying below degree level.
 2. Any course where the student is a Tier 4 (Child) Student, aged over 16 years old.
The above mentioned students can undertake full-time work during vacation periods.
 1. Students not allowed to work in the UK:
 1. Part time students, studying at post-degree level or above.
 2. Students studying at any level in a publically funded further education college.
 3. Students studying at any level as a private provider
 2. Tier 4 (Child) students under the age of 16 years old.
Things You Must Avoid
There are some employment laws in UK you must keep in mind when undertaking jobs in the UK as an international student.
If you are allowed to work in the UK, you cannot do the following:
 - be employed as a doctor or dentist in training (except on are cognised foundation programme);
 - be employed as an entertainer;
 - be self-employed
 - engage in business activity;
 - fill a full-time, permanent vacancy (except on a recognised foundation programme or where you are filling a post as a Student Union Sabbatical Officer).
 - Please keep in mind that if you break any laws relating to your work, you can be deported, and you could face legal repercussions, which will be detrimental to your career.
 - You shouldn't solely rely on what you earn, part-time employment cannot sustain the living costs in the UK.
 - Most importantly, focus on your studies, money should not be your main concern. You will have plenty of time for that after you graduate!
It takes a lot of courage to study abroad, many students overcome financial strains in order to attend university in the UK. Undertaking part-time work can he essential for international students, not only for the money you can earn, but also for the valuable experience of meeting new people and becoming part of a new culture.
At Study Bridge, we understand the struggles you can be going through, thus we urge you to get in touch with us, any time you need assistance. We also provide career assistance and student guidance throughout their studies. With Study Bridge you'll never be alone.


Found a JavaScript assignment on Codewars.com:
The goal of this exercise is to convert a string to a new string where each character in the new string is '(' if that character appears only once in the original string, or ')' if that character appears more than once in the original string. Ignore capitalization when determining if a character is a duplicate.
"din" => "((("
I did the assignment in Java, and came up with below code. I want to know is this the write way to code or is there a better way? If so please let me know.
private static String duplicateEncode(String word) {
 String encodeString = "";
 String decodedString = word.toLowerCase();
 for (int i = 0; i < decodedString.length(); i++) {
 if (decodedString.substring(i + 1, decodedString.length())
 || decodedString.substring(0, i).contains(String.valueOf(decodedString.charAt(i)))) {
 encodeString += ")";
 } else {
 encodeString += "(";
 return encodeString;
First of all, nullbyte is exactly right about the use of a StringBuilder: using a += b for Strings roughly equals new StringBuilder().append(a).append(b).toString() under the hood and thus is a quite expensive operation.
Then, your method to check whether a given charcter exists in the string after a given index is s.substring(i).contains(ch) which again creates a superfluos string object via the substring-call. Instead, simply use s.indexOf(ch, i) to find the next index of ch after the given starting index (returns -1 for "not found").
Additionally, you might consider nullbyte's suggestion to hold the seen-or-not-seen status in a set, which also was my first intuition when reading the exercise. (Right now, you have runtime complexity of O(n^2) which you could reduce to O(n)). You only have to somehow come up with a method to revisit the first character, maybe by not using a set but by usign a map from character to number of occurrences or something like that.
Naming: why decodedString? This is not decoded in any way, this is just lowercase word. I can live with encodeString (or probably better encoded), but decodedString does not look right and does not give the reader any clue about the variable's contents.
public static String encode(String input) {
 input= input.toLowerCase(); //ignoring case
 StringBuilder myNewString = new StringBuilder(); // for holding new String
 for(char ch : input.toCharArray()) {
 if(StringUtils.countMatches(input, ch) > 1){ // more than 1 condition
 }else{ // not repeating chars
I am using StringUtils class from Apache Commons project. So need add this to your import: import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 - 1
 \$\begingroup\$ Same as I already commented at nullbyte's answer. This is not a review. BTW, what is StringUtils? \$\endgroup\$ – mtj Mar 13 '18 at 7:13
 - \$\begingroup\$ oh forgot to mention, StringUtils is an Apache Commons project. Edited my original post and added package. Thanks \$\endgroup\$ – SKV Mar 13 '18 at 7:55
 - \$\begingroup\$ This seems to be a little bit more concise solution than the original one. What's the time complexity of the StringUtils.countMatches() method? It's definitely O(n) which doesn't make it any better. You used a StringBuilder though. \$\endgroup\$ – nullbyte Mar 14 '18 at 0:53
Here's a better solution using a hash map:
 public static String encode(String input) {
 final StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
 final Map indexMap = new HashMap<>();
 char ch = Character.toLowerCase(input.charAt(index));
 if(indexMap.containsKey(ch)) {
 int previous = indexMap.get(ch);
 builder.replace(previous, previous+1, ")");
 }else {
 indexMap.put(ch, index);
 return builder.toString();
It requires O(n) time and O(n) additional space, but it's way faster than yours. Also, try using a StringBuilder if you append strings in a loop.
 - \$\begingroup\$ The above code will fail if the first character is coming twice. For eg: if my string is abca, i am expecting an output )((). But the above code will print (((). \$\endgroup\$ – SKV Mar 13 '18 at 6:53
 - \$\begingroup\$ Not worth my karma to downvote this, but I don't consider "I can do it better, here's some code" a review. \$\endgroup\$ – mtj Mar 13 '18 at 7:12
 - \$\begingroup\$ _USER_ Well, I think it's not worth pointing out, but the OP's question is: I want to know if is this the right way to code or if there is a better way? Is this how you read it? First of all, it was not my intention to hurt someone else's feelings by "showing off" with a better solution. Secondly, there's really nothing to review, and I think I've pointed (as well as you have) the main points in my post. I could have done it more explicitly though. \$\endgroup\$ – nullbyte Mar 14 '18 at 0:45
 - \$\begingroup\$ _USER_ Ha! that's a good catch. Thanks. Please see my updated answer \$\endgroup\$ – nullbyte Mar 14 '18 at 0:46
Your Answer


text:
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) organized 'Eco-Hike and Tree Plantation Drive' in the Margalla Hills to raise awareness about preservation and protection of the environment.
The event was held as part of PTCL's 'Go Green' vision, which is a manifestation of the company's corporate social responsibility policy, aimed at preserving the environment in a sustainable manner.
The initiative emphasized the importance of keeping the surroundings clean and raised awareness in the community about environmental issues.
More than 230 hikers including PTCL employees and students participated in the hike, which started at the base of Margalla hills on Trail 3 & 5 and culminated at the picturesque Pir Sohawa.
The participants also collected litter along the trails, with an aim to raise awareness among the general public about the need to keep the environment clean. Students and faculty members from various universities including Iqra, FAST and Bahria University were also invited to take part in this CSR initiative.
A tree plantation drive in collaboration with CDA was also launched at the occasion; where top brass of PTCL, led by Syed Mazhar Hussain, Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) PTCL, planted pine tree saplings.
Syed Mazhar Hussain, CHRO PTCL while speaking at the occasion enunciated the value that PTCL attaches to various socially responsible activities that it undertakes under the aegis of its CSR policy. He vowed to keep the momentum of such activities in future also, so that PTCL continues to play its part in the social and economic uplift of the country.
At the closing ceremony, an environment awareness session was also held, where renowned environmentalist Dr. Muhammad Hanif elaborated the need for preservation and protection of environment.
Sanaullah Aman, Member Environment CDA, assured of his agency's full cooperation to the civil society and corporate organizations in accomplishing this objective.
Protecting the environment and keeping the habitat clean is at the forefront of PTCL's social responsibility initiatives and the company actively pursues endeavours to keep the environment clean.


IS?
If you have spent anytime with SSIS you have heard that Asynchronous components also known as "Blocking" components are bad for performance and should be avoided where possible. You have also heard some analogy or another that explained how these components "block" the data in the data flow and slow down performance. But I'm here to tell you that it gets much worse.
The data flow sends data down in buffers. Each buffer in the data flow will first utilize memory if available, the memory that is captured for that buffer of records will be released once the data flow is done with that buffer. For example once those records in that buffer have been loaded to the destination the buffer and the corresponding memory is released. This memory can now be used for the next buffer of memory coming down the pipeline in the data flow task. This is where the true evil with asynchronous components come in.
What happens if the buffer is not released because it got caught up in the data flow at some blocking transform? In a worse case scenario your machine/server becomes starved for memory and then SSIS is forced use disk instead of memory. Too many buffers spooled to disk can exponentially increase your package run time. Let me demonstrate.
For this example I have created two packages. Each package uses a sorting transform, however in different locations.
Package One. This package takes an unknown amount of time to run, I cut it off after approximately 68 minutes. The first screenshot shows the package in it's current state, the second and third screenshot give some insight into why this is taking so long to run.
Screenshot 1:
image
The following screenshot is obtained from SSMS after I run the package from integration services and then run the following query against the SSISDB.
 - "SELECT * FROM [catalog].[dm_execution_performance_counters] (NULL) "
Screenshot 2:
image
Screenshot 3: (Here we see the execution performance from the SSISDB)
image
Unfortunately there are times when you just have no choice and must use asynchronous components in SSIS. One option to consider, can the blocking transform be placed in a more strategic location to minimize the negative impact to performance? For example. In package one the sorting transform was placed before the lookup, the lookup is only forwarding non matching records to the destination, so why do the matching records need to be sorted? If matching records don't need to be sorted then we can move the blocking transform to after the lookup and keep everything in memory.
Package Two: (This package completes in 1 minute and 20 seconds)
Screenshot 1:
image
Screenshot 2:
image
Screenshot 3:
image
Thanks for looking!


Cut Out a Cross with One Straight Cut
cross you can cut from a piece of paper
How can you cut out a shape of a cross from a regular piece of paper with one, straight cut? Follow the steps below to find out.
 1. fold top corner to opposite sideFold the top corner down to the edge of the paper.
 2. fold other top corner downFold the top right corner down.
 3. fold in halfFold in half along a vertical line.
 4. fold in half againFold in half vertically again.
 5. cut along vertical lineCut along the vertical line.


Laser Cavity with a Thin Lens
Application ID: 59571
In this model, two flat end mirrors are placed at a distance and a spherical lens is inserted in the middle of the cavity. A ray is released from a point inside the cavity. Then the ray is traced for a predefined time period that is sufficiently long. Ray tracing continues until the predefined computation time has passed if the laser cavity is stable while the ray gets out of the cavity relatively sooner if not. A parametric study demonstrates how the cavity length changes the cavity stability and compares the stability result with the ABCD matrix theory.
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:


text:
Copying Repair Lines from a
One exciting aspect of Manager's vehicle history capability is
that you can copy information from a history order to a current order.
For example, while
preparing an estimate for an engine rebuild on a '68 Chevy Pickup, you may
recall that you prepared a similar estimate in the past. Rather than having to
put together the estimate from scratch, you can copy repair lines from the
historical order and paste them into the new order. Your parts, labor, and tax
rates are automatically updated to current values.
As another example, you
may have a regular customer who comes in every three thousand miles for an Oil
Change/Lube Job. Once you have begun the order, and selected her name in the
Customer panel, simply click on the History tab to view her history records,
open a history record for a previous Oil Change/Lube Job, copy the repair lines,
and paste them into your current order. Your order is complete without you ever
having to look up a part, labor item, or canned
To copy repair
lines from a history record:
procedure details one method of copying information from a history record into
an estimate. Actually, there are a number of different ways that copying and
pasting can be employed within Manager. And you aren't limited to copying from
history -- you can also copy from one open order into
Select Detail to open the History Detail dialog box.
Highlight the line items you wish to copy. Highlight cells by moving your mouse pointer to a cell in the first row in the range of rows you want to copy and, holding your left mouse button down, dragging the mouse pointer to a cell in the last row to be included in your copy area.
Type Ctrl + C to copy the repair lines.
Select the In Progrss icon to open Work In Progress.
Open the Order you wish to paste into.
Select Paste from the Edit menu. OR Type Ctrl + V to paste the selected repair lines. A dialog box asks if you wish to update your parts cost from inventory.
Select Yes. The repair lines are added to your order.


text:
Measurements of fallout radioactivity in Greenland in 1982 are reported. Strontium-90 (and Cesium-137 in most cases) was determined in samples of precipitation, sea water, vegetation, animals, and drinking water. Estimates are given of the mean contents of 90Sr and 137Cs in the human diet in Greenland in 1982. The report contains results from sampling expeditions to East Greenland as well as West Greenland waterJ in 1982. Brown algae collected in East Greenland in 1969 were analysed for 90Sr.
|Place of Publication||Roskilde|
|Publisher||Risø National Laboratory|
|Number of pages||47|
|Publication status||Published - 1983|
|Series||Denmark. Forskningscenter Risoe. Risoe-R|


text:
Growth Trends for Related Jobs
How Does the General Schedule Step Scale Work?
Most of the salaries of U.S. government civil service jobs fall under the General Schedule pay system. The system provides for a series of grade and step increases in pay which permits an employee to advance through a given profession as their experience and proficiency increases.
The General Schedule System
There are fifteen grades within within the federal government general schedule pay system. Each job title is assigned a series of grades associated with the job, progressing in salary from lowest to highest. Within each grade, there are a series of ten steps, which are salary increases. These are known as step increases or within-grade increases.
Entering Government Service
When a person is hired by the federal government, the employee is assigned a pay grade within the job series, depending upon his or her knowledge, education and experience. For instance, an entry-level biologist with a bachelor's degree may enter federal service as a GS-5. Within the same job series, an advanced researcher with a doctorate. and many years prior experience may enter as a GS-13 or higher. In almost all cases, a person entering government service will start at step one of their grade.
After one year of service, the person is eligible for a within-grade increase. If performance has been satisfactory and a supervisors approves, the individual moves from step one to step two, with the associated increase in pay. The individual may increase in steps annually until step four, when the waiting period changes to every two years between steps four through seven. After step seven, the period of performance changes to every three years through step ten.
Exceptions to Step Increases
If an employee's work is not satisfactory, a step increase may not be awarded. On the other hand, exemplary employees may be eligible for a Quality Step Increase. This is an increase given in addition to their scheduled increases. To be eligible for a QSI, an employee must have the highest rating possible on the annual appraisal and must not have received another QSI within the previous year.
Step increases provide employees with an increase in salary as they become more proficient in their professional career. Employees may also be promoted from their present grade to the next higher grade as they take on more professional responsibility. When this occurs, they once again start at a lower step and become eligible for step increases within their new grade.


text:
Swiss Screw Technology delivers the high precision demanded by control and valve components
Density. Concentration. Flow rates. Liquid levels. Those are just a few of the parameters regulated by controls and valves found in countless types of processing equipment used in industries and municipalities. Components such as positioners, actuators, valve controls, and pressure regulators must be of the highest precision to deliver reliable performance in critical operations. Components manufactured with Swiss screw technology provide an added measure of confidence throughout the control loop.
Swiss screw machines create components of unparalleled accuracy in addition to a number of other advantages for control and valve manufacturers.
Critical tolerances – Valve bodies and related control accessories must meet tight tolerances to ensure proper liquid flow. Swiss screw technology provides superior tolerances in these components through better support for all stock material during the manufacturing process. That's because the part moves while the tooling is stationary, resulting in reduced risk of the support material moving for precision accuracy in meeting required tolerances.
Component geometries – Hardware found in controls and valves varies as much as the types of control processes. Swiss screw machines can produce a broad range of these complex, intricate parts faster and with extraordinary precision. The key is the technology's capabilities for up to 6-axis machining, including an additional rotation around the Z axis for faster cut times. Swiss screw machines also offer positioning for component feature contouring that might otherwise have to be machined separately.
Material versatility – Materials used in control and valve applications must stand up to a variety of liquids including harsh chemicals and other solutions. Swiss screw machining can be used to machine the materials required such as stainless steel, aluminum, titanium and a range of alloys.
Unmatched accuracy – Swiss screw machining offers the dimensional control and other properties required by the many different kinds of automotive parts. That's because the technology provides better support for all stock material – the part moves while the tooling is stationary. The result is reduced risk of the support material moving for precision accuracy.
For more than 50 years, Sheldon Precision has been a leader in Swiss screw machine technology. As an independent manufacturer, we can produce the most challenging and complex Swiss screw machine components for your control and valve applications.
For more information on how we can help with your control and valve components, contact Sheldon Precision today. Contact