text:
It is not promoted as a genealogy tool; however, it seems to me that anyone having any residential location in the United States, could clearly benefit, by obtaining a home history; relatives and occupants. The Died in House service is the first of its kind; it provides users with death records associated to a specific address. This seems to have tremendous potential, for the genealogy and family history community, especially for close knit neighborhoods, considering data obtained from obituary notices and death certificates.Subsequently, Tony Proctor made the following comment about the UK:
I'd like to suggest a generalisation of this topic James. There is a homes-based collaborative site in UK too called MyHomesPast.Tony also explains his thoughts about the program in another Google+ post:
MyHomesPast is a collaborative site allowing people to create a pictorial history of the homes they've lived in, including details of former residents and timelines for the properties. This is one of the forms of local history that I mentioned as falling outside of traditional genealogy but having a strong overlap with it - hence my use of the preferred term micro-history. The site was only launched in 2012 and so has a few teething troubles, such as requiring a mandatory postal code. This automatically eliminates many of the properties that were demolished during the slum clearance projects of the 1960-70's in England, and leaves people like myself unable to use it. Still, this is the way things are going and I hope the site succeeds.


text:
All About Baby
At week 18, your baby-to-be's senses are maturing. She's able to hear sounds within her own comfortable environment, such as the sound of your heart beating, as well as external sounds, such as your voice. She may become more active for certain sounds, and you'll feel her movements. At this point in her development she's still small enough that she has plenty of room to wiggle.
All About You
By now you're feeling your baby-to-be wiggle inside you. The excitement surrounding her first movements will probably help you forget some of your pregnancy woes. As your tummy continues to expand you may notice stretch marks and have itchy skin. Your back will ache as your body adjusts to its new alignment. Thankfully, nausea is mostly likely a distant memory.
Understanding Pregnancy Tests
Between your 16th and 20th weeks of pregnancy you'll be offered a series of tests to determine if your baby-to-be is at risk for certain genetic problems. Notice that these tests are offered but not required. Before you submit to the tests, it's important to understand what each entails and what the results will tell you about your developing baby.
Risk Assessments, Not Tests
Rather than view genetic tests as pass/fail, physicians see them as risk assessments, looking at whether your baby-to-be has a greater risk for certain genetic problems. For instance, a "positive" result doesn't necessarily indicate a problem with your baby, but that you might consider additional — and more definitive testing — to determine your baby's health. "The way I describe it to my patients is that these tests are like casting a wide net," explains Dr. Joanne Motino Bailey, a certified nurse midwife and a professor of women's studies at the University of Michigan. "You have plenty of healthy babies that are caught in the net" along with a handful of babies with genetic concerns.
Non-Invasive Tests
The main reason for so many false positives, according to Dr. Motino Bailey, is that physicians want to offer the safest, most non-invasive way to test your unborn baby for certain genetic disorders. These tests involve a simple blood test with virtually no risk to your baby-to-be.
- Quad test/triple screen: Your healthcare provider will draw your blood and test it for elevated levels of certain hormones and proteins, which may indicate your unborn baby has a genetic problem. The quad tests for Down syndrome, spina bifida, and other genetic problems. Keep in mind that this test has a high false positive and a high false negative rate.
- Depending on your healthcare provider, you may be offered the triple screen, which includes looking at two hormone levels and one protein, or the quad test (quickly becoming the norm), which tests for an additional protein that may indicate genetic problems.
- Nuchal translucency screening (NTS): A more recent test option combines a blood test with an ultrasound to look for risk factors that may indicate that your unborn baby has Down syndrome. The test is highly specialized, however, so it may not be available in your area.
- Cystic fibrosis: Your blood sample will also be tested for cystic fibrosis. The test will determine if you are a CF carrier. If you are, your partner may then be tested. Because this is a recessive disorder, both you and your partner must be carriers for your unborn baby to be at risk. If both parents are carriers, according to ACOG, your unborn baby has a one in four chance of developing the disease.
- Ethnicity-based blood tests: Certain genetic disorders tend to appear in certain ethnicities. Your physician will ask a series of questions about your background to determine whether these tests are necessary for you.
Invasive Tests
If your first round of screening comes back with positive results (again, not meaning that your baby has a problem, but that she might be at a risk) you will be offered additional tests to give you a definitive answer about your unborn baby's genetic makeup. While these tests offer the yes/no answers you may be looking for, they do carry a risk of miscarriage.
- Amniocentesis: With an amnio, your healthcare provider inserts a long needle through your abdomen and into the uterus to collect a small sample of amniotic fluid. The fluid is then tested for genetic problems, such as Down syndrome, neural tube defects, and other disorders. The test is done between pregnancy weeks 16 and 20.
- Chorionic villus sampling (CVS): In CVS, a needle placed through your abdomen or through your vagina withdraws a tiny portion of the placenta. The sample can then be tested for Down syndrome, sickle-cell anemia, and cystic fibrosis. The test is performed between pregnancy weeks 10 and 12.
Note: CVS, a first-trimester test, provides parents with an earlier diagnosis than amniocentesis, a second-trimester test. Until recently, CVS had been associated with a slightly higher rate of miscarriage, but findings published in the September 2006 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology show that the miscarriage rate is actually the same for both CVS and amnio, below two percent.
These tests are not to be taken lightly, advises Dr. Bailey. Take time to ask your healthcare provider about each test.
Got questions about Week 18? Other ladies have wondered…
Q: Should I eat differently now that I know my baby's gender?
The tried-and-true practice of everything in moderation is really the best approach here. Eating too much of one type of food can lead to not having enough room to eat other things that you need. So eat a colorful, varied diet. Take in a balance of fruits, veggies, grains, proteins, and fats. Read more about eating healthy while pregnant.
Q: At an ultrasound, my doctor found a bright spot on my baby's heart. What is it?
This is a hard question to answer without more information. Screening for Down syndrome is complex, because there is so much overlap between findings in babies with Down syndrome and what's seen in typical babies. Several findings on an ultrasound are called 'soft markers' for Down syndrome. Read more about Down syndrome testing.
Q: Why do some pregnant women need to go on bed rest?
Bed rest can be recommended for many different reasons in pregnancy. Read more about pregnancy bed rest.
Q: How can I treat this severe heartburn?
Usually heartburn is harmless in pregnancy, but it can be very uncomfortable. Chewable antacids like Tums neutralize acid and may give temporary relief, but the calcium in the antacid actually stimulates more acid production an hour later, and symptoms can actually get worse. Read more about severe heartburn during pregnancy.
Your Partner
Beginning to Build Your Bond
As a dad-to-be, you don't have the same connection to your baby as your partner does. If you're looking for a fun way to build a connection with your unborn child, one of the best ways to get started is to talk to or read to your baby.
You might think talking to your partner's belly is a little embarrassing. Don't! Reading to baby can become a very special time between you and your partner; a new form of intimacy and sharing (and some quiet time that will be harder to come by after your baby is born).
But maybe even more importantly, reading to your unborn baby helps you relate to your baby as a person, giving you a head start for when your little one arrives in person.
In addition, your baby can now hear sounds and voices from the womb. This means you have a unique opportunity to help your little baby begin to recognize your own voice. Of course, your baby has a good chance of recognizing your partner's voice because she is with your baby all of the time. Reading, talking, and singing are all ways to share your voice with your baby.
After my twins were born, I stood next to my daughter in the hospital and called her name … and she turned her head to me, confirming all the time I had spent communicating with her while she was in the womb was worth it.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I'm 39 , and I'm saying "Moo, cow!" in a river!Mitch Robbins
Let's bring out the cake!Mitch Robbins
Women need a reason for having sex, men just need a place.Mitch Robbins
Value this time in your life kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices, and it goes by so fast. When youre a teenager you think you can do anything, and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Your thirties, you raise your family, you make a little money and you think to yourself, What happened to my twenties? Your forties, you grow a little pot belly, you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud. One of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. Fifties you have a minor surgery. Youll call it a procedure, but its a surgery. Sixties you have a major surgery, the music is still loud, but it doesnt matter because you cant hear it anyway. Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale, start eating dinner at two o'clock in the afternoon, lunch around ten, breakfast the night before. And you spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate soft yogurt and muttering How come the kids dont call? How come the kids dont call? The eighties, youve had a major stroke, and you end up babbling to some Jamaican nurse who your wife cant stand but who you call mama. Any questions?Mitch Robbins
Rollin', rollin', rollin', keep them dogies rollin', man my ass is swollen, Rawhide! Get 'em up, move 'em out, wake 'em up, get 'em dressed, get 'em shaved, comb their hair, Rawhide! Tie me down, tell me lies, pull my hair, smack my thighs - with a big wet strap of, Rawhide!Mitch Robbins
Excuse me, el doctor! Hello...? Don't sew anything up that's supposed to remain open, OK?Mitch Robbins
Let's bring out the cake! to Nancy Want some?Mitch Robbins
Well, look at it; it's got your name and your picture on it. It's a little grotesque.Mitch
Do us good? Didn't you guys see? He was hanging the help! Did you see his eyes? He's got crazy eyes. He's a lunatic! I am telling you, we are going into the wilderness being led by a lunatic!Mitch
I'm sorry; I didn't mean anything by it!Mitch
Alright Ed, your best day, what was it? Twins in a trapeze, what?Mitch
Hey you know, the first time I tried to talk to you, you embarrassed me. So I teased you a little bit which maybe I shouldn't have done, so I'm sorry. And now you're sitting over there playing with your knife, trying to frighten me; which you're doing a good job... But if you're gonna kill me, get on with it; if not, shut the hell up; I'm on vacation.Mitch
It's nothing to be ashamed of - I had the same problem.Mitch
Yeah, for a while, but then I overcame it. Can I explain it to you again? I mean now promise me you won't get upset.Mitch
O.K., if you want to watch one show but record another show at the same time, the television set does not have to be on channel 3.Mitch


text:
| Linuxtoday.com
рекомендовать друзьям >>
- Are We Witnessing the Decline of Ubuntu?
Datamation: Ubuntu and Canonical are looking as if they've peaked, with a string of questionable moves.
- Red Hat: Big bucks, big Linux
- 7 ways your company can support open source
CIOL: So how best to support open source? Here are seven ways your company can strengthen the open source projects you depend on.
- The legacy of open source and the tide of progress
OpenSource.com: At its heart the open source movement is an extension of science. Sir Isaac Newton wrote, "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
- Suricata 1.4.6 released!
OISF: The OISF development team is pleased to announce Suricata 1.4.6. This is a small but important update over the 1.4.5 release, addressing some important issues.
- Open-source platform gains popularity in government
The Age: Sheridan said the emergence of one such company, PreviousNext, had been responsible for a surge in popularity of Drupal in government.
- From Windows to Ubuntu - A success story
EveryDayLinuxUser: If you have a PC that's reaching the end of its usable life, I'd encourage you to give Ubuntu a try
- New KScreen Mock-ups Spark Conversation
OStatic: KDE developer Aaron Seigo and his intriguing take on the new mock-ups.
- GNOME 3.12 Will Integrate Systemd, Zimbra, Wayland Port
Softpedia: For the GNOME 3.12 release, the developers will concentrate their efforts on fully porting the desktop environment to the Wayland display server, which will be supported by default instead of XOrg.
|отписаться: http://www.rss2email.ru/unsubscribe.asp?c=84054&u=702029&r=300840476
управление подпиской: http://www.rss2email.ru/manage.asp
партнерская программа: http://partner.rss2email.ru/?pid=1


text:
Software & Solutions from Our Partners
If the electronic document workflow needs of your organization are specific to your industry, then we are likely working with a partner who specializes in that area. Our partners have already integrated support for Wacom products into their software, so you can begin enjoying the benefits of electronic pen input. Some partners offer SDKs to customize the functionality and user experience of their software to better meet your requirements. If you are interested in having pen input added directly to your favorite application or system, contact us so we can discuss your requirements with your software vendor.


text:
Oceanside to spend $400k to stop violence
Nearly $400,000 will be pumped into a variety of programs meant to quell gang violence in Oceanside neighborhoods under proposals approved this week by the City Council.
"Every child should be able to walk down the street in any part of the city safely and without fear," Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said at Wednesday night's council meeting, where the panel voted unanimously to spend the money. "That is our goal and we're going to meet that goal."
Among other things, the city will keep recreation centers open later in the day, split the $140,000 cost of hiring a school resource officer with the Oceanside Unified School District and provide startup funding for North County Lifeline youth center in Crown Heights.
The city also will provide money to keep open a youth center run by Vista Community Clinic in the Libby Lake neighborhood, expand the police Explorer program for youths and install security cameras at locations to be determined by police.
The programs focus on the neighborhoods of Libby Lake, Eastside and Crown Heights which have been hit with street gang violence.
Councilman Jerry Kern said his concern is that the city may not have the money to continue funding for the programs when the $400,000 runs out.
Although city finances are improving, "we're not out of the woods yet," Kern said.
The council action follows an April 24 joint meeting of the council and the school district board of trustees aimed at looking for ways the two groups could work together.
That meeting came in response to a March shooting in Libby Lake Park in which two teens were killed and two wounded, as well as a spate of violent incidents — some fatal — in the Crown Heights neighborhood.
In addition to the action approved Wednesday, Weiss said the city is seeking donations to pay for field trips the city would offer teens as a way to keep them out of trouble. He said he also would present a plan in June to restore funding to put a mothballed library bookmobile back on the streets for a limited time.
David Garcia, an 18-year-old student from El Camino Real High School who was one of the teens wounded in Libby Lake Park in March, urged the council to continue funding for Vista Community Clinic's Project REACH at the Libby Lake Community Resource Center. The project would get $80,000 under the plan approved by the council.
Project REACH (Recreation, Employment readiness, Academic achievement, Communication skills and Healthy lifestyle choices) is an after-school program that provides tutoring, job training and a place for youths to hang out.
"They helped me with everything, with school, with planning for the future," Garcia said. He said REACH provides a safe haven for neighborhood teens.
"They're there and they're safe," Garcia said.
Because the city has a limited amount of money available, Weiss said the city must rely on nonprofits to help.
"We are just not as a city in a position to be responsible for everything," Weiss said.
Salvador Leal, who grew up in Crown Heights, said with the city demonstrating its commitment to stemming the violence, the community residents are ready to help.
"We've been mostly pointing the fingers at each other," Leal said. "I believe if you do your part, the community will do its part."
Councilman Jack Feller said the city programs can help but parents have to take more responsibility as well.
"The parents, they have to fill the gap. It's not the city's responsibility to be parents," Feller said. "There's no excuse for parents not participating in their child's life."
Get Essential San Diego, weekday mornings
Get top headlines from the Union-Tribune in your inbox weekday mornings, including top news, local, sports, business, entertainment and opinion.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.


text:
This article is provided and sponsored by:
ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions
Any of us could use some extra cash in the form of a surprise little windfall. Credit counselors at ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions recommend taking 15 minutes to search for possible "unclaimed" monies owed to you. In recent years, the average claim has been worth around $900! What do you have to lose?
Unclaimed property includes dormant bank accounts, stocks, un-cashed dividends or payroll checks, refunds, traveler's checks, trust distributions, unredeemed money orders, insurance payments or refunds and life insurance policies, annuities, certificates of deposit, customer overpayments, utility security deposits, mineral royalty payments, and contents of safe deposit boxes.
Money could be lost due to bank closures, customers who move and doesn't inform companies with whom they are doing business, valuables (which are sold off) or cash from forgotten safety deposit boxes, un-cashed checks, unclaimed rebates or refunds, deposits on utilities, old stock and bond certificates, people who were owed tax refunds but who never filed returns, and more.
Companies are required to send funds from lost accounts to the state of the owner's last known address. That means you could have unclaimed funds in every state that you have resided. The state government offices are responsible for locating the owners of outstanding property.
Some companies will contact you and offer to do a search for a fee. There is no reason you should waste your money. Doing an Internet search is quick and easy. If you are lucky enough to locate some funds, just complete and submit a claim form.
Your money used to be safe in states' unclaimed property offices indefinitely. But, with the economy faltering and many state governments in budgetary trouble, several states have changed their laws. Under certain circumstances, it would be legal for the states to seize unclaimed money and not give it back.
Check each state you've lived in at www.unclaimed.org. Also check www.missingmoney.com. Make sure to check current and maiden names. If you've ever had an FHA loan, check for possible leftover assets at www.hud.gov. Consider checking not only for yourself but for relatives.
The credit counselors at ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions wish you good luck and happy hunting!
You must log in to post a comment.


text: I work for a company that signed on to be the official beef of the chicago cubs. They knew back in January but couldnt say anything due to the way the contract was written up until the cubs announced it. It is possible Hasbro is trying to look good and forced the club to wait. If they had said anything it would be breach of contract. There is alot we dont know and unless we get to see the contract between fun pub and hasbro we should be understanding


text:
Is it ever going to be possible to use PAPI_sprofil or PAPI_overflow to get sampled data for an attached process/thread?
When I try PAPI_sprofil returns invalid argument. And indeed in the papi.c code I see a check whether the event set is attached and if so it returns EINVAL.
Is there any reason why this could not be made to work?
I want to be able to attach to a running process and profile it (to find hotspots!).


text:
The Jabra Freeway Speakerphone is the first of its bluetooth speakerphone brethren to use a three speaker-system to pump out Virtual Surround Sound via Bluetooth. It's smart too, the Freeway automatically turns on when a car door is open and pairs itself with the driver's phone. It's going to cost $129 in May but comes with a free year's service of Voice Assist, which let drivers send emails and text messages or post updates on Facebook and Twitter through voice commands. [Jabra]
More from Gizmodo


text:
Terms and Conditions: This quotation is valid for a period of 28 days from the date shown. This does not constitute an offer to enter into an agreement on these terms, or at all, and will not form part of any subsequent agreement. We reserve the right to vary the price quoted in the following circumstances: (a) manufacturer's price increase, (b) tax and fiscal changes, (c) there has been a demonstrable error by Santander Consumer (UK) plc T/A Volvo Car Financial Services which has resulted in the wrong price being quoted for any vehicle. This quotation is given subject to status and additional guarantees or indemnities may be required. Terms and conditions apply. At the end of the contract term you will not own the vehicle. You must be aged 18 or over. You may be subject to additional charges subject to the condition of the vehicle. Santander Consumer (UK) plc T/A Volvo Car Financial Services RH1 1SR. We (the supplying dealer) are a broker not a lender and can introduce you to a selected number of providers and may receive a commission from them for the introduction. Address: Santander Consumer (UK) plc trading as Volvo Car Financial Services, One Central Boulevard, Blythe Valley Park, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 8BG Registered Number: 2248870 VAT Registered Number: 466264724 Santander Consumer (UK) plc T/A Volvo Car Financial Services. Registered Office: Santander House, 86 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1SR. Offers available on all models, subject to availability, can be tailored to specific mileage and contract terms.
Manager's Special: This offer is a Manager's Special and will not be around for long.


text:
Nocturnal illumination, weather phenomena, and differing temperatures of electric light lend an eerie quality to Todd Hido's unique landscape photographs. Join Hido as he shares his expertise in a weekend workshop for artists and documentarians alike. The course will cover the experiences, strategies, and influences that form and shape a photographer's career. Hido will describe in detail the process of making his new book, Excerpts from Silver Meadows. He will candidly present his own work and provide answers to the elusive questions all photographers ask themselves: Where does my work come from? What does it say? How can I express myself more effectively? What does it mean—and does that even matter? The friendly review of student portfolios will follow, and each student will receive personalized feedback and tasks for improvement. Students will also study the precedent set by other photographers as a rich source of inspiration. The workshop's main objective is to provide students with a framework for intuitive self-discovery and the merging of one's practice and one's everyday life. Lunch will be served.
Todd Hido (born in Kent, Ohio, 1968) is a San Francisco Bay Area–based artist whose work has been featured in Artforum, New York Times Magazine, Eyemazing, Metropolis, The Face, I-D, and Vanity Fair. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among other institutions. He has published more than a dozen books, including Excerpts from Silver Meadows (2013). Hido earned a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, and an MFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, Calif., and is an adjunct professor at the California College of Art, San Francisco.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
10:00 am–1:00 pm: Introductions and a presentation of Todd Hido's work and influences.
1:00–5:00 pm: Presentation of student portfolios, feedback, and group discussion.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
10:00–5:00 pm: Presentation of student portfolios, feedback, and group discussion.
Tuition: $500 ($450 for currently enrolled photography students and Aperture Patrons)
Aperture, 547 West 27th Street, 4th floor, New York, NY 10001
Contact [email protected] with any questions.
Refund/Cancellation Policy for Aperture Workshops
All fees are nonrefundable if you withdraw from a workshop less than one month prior to its start date, unless we are able to fill your seat. In the event of a medical emergency, please provide a physician's note stating the nature of the emergency, and Aperture will issue you a credit that can be applied to future workshops. Aperture reserves the right to cancel any workshop up to one week prior to the start date if the workshop is under-enrolled, in which case a full refund will be issued. A minimum of eight students is required to run a workshop.


text: The Pretty Things were the also-rans of the British Invasion, a band that never got its due. Despite this lack of recognition, they were never quite ignored, cultivating a passionate cult that stuck with them through the decades -- a cult that was drawn to either their vicious early records, where they sometimes seemed like a meaner version of the Rolling Stones, or to their 1968 psychedelic masterwork S.F. Sorrow. Some of their fans advocate for the entirety of their catalog, noting how the group adeptly shifted with the times. Despite these shifts in style, they rarely racked up hits on either side of the Atlantic. In the United States, they didn't chart until 1975, a full decade after they released their rough-and-tumble debut. Back then, the Pretty Things seemed like rivals to the Rolling Stones and that was no great leap: guitarist Dick Taylor played bass in the first incarnation of the Stones, not long before he teamed up with Phil May to form the Pretty Things in 1963. Taking their name from a Bo Diddley song, the Pretty Things were intentionally ugly: their sound was brutish, their hair longer than any of their contemporaries, their look unkempt. This nastiness was evident on their first pair of singles, "Rosalyn" and "Don't Bring Me Down," two 45s that charted in 1964, their success helping to get their eponymous debut into the U.K. Top Ten a year later, but that turned out to be the extent of their commercial success. The Pretty Things may not have shown up on the charts but their cult proved to be influential: it's been said Pete Townshend was influenced by S.F. Sorrow to write Tommy for the Who and David Bowie covered both "Rosalyn" and "Don't Bring Me Down" for his 1973 album Pin Ups. Critics liked them too but that acclimation didn't sell records. Nevertheless, the Pretty Things were survivors, soldiering on through the '70s, turning into a harder, heavier outfit that was rewarded with marginal U.S. success -- 1974's Silk Torpedo and 1976's Savage Eye made the lower reaches of Billboard -- cutting a credible new wave album at the dawn of the '80s. The Pretty Things would split not long afterward but their cult remained so strong that they became a semi-active concern at the beginning of the new millennium, as they would occasional reunite for tours and recordings. Such perseverance would've seemed unlikely back in 1963 when Dick Taylor and Phil May first formed the band. Taylor had been playing with Mick Jagger in a London outfit called Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys since he was a schoolboy and he later met Keith Richards at Sidcup Art School. In 1962, Taylor, Jagger, and Richards all started playing, once again calling themselves Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys, with Brian Jones and Ian Stewart aboard, and this group turned into the Rolling Stones, but Taylor tired of bass and left to concentrate on art. Soon, he was convinced by fellow Sidcup Art School student Phil May to form the Pretty Things. The duo brought in bassist John Stax, guitarist Brian Pendleton, and drummer Pete Kitley; the latter would soon be replaced by Viv Prince. Bryan Morrison, who also was attending art school with Taylor and May, managed the band and helped get it signed to Fontana. "Rosalyn," the group's first single, peaked at 41 in 1964 but "Don't Bring Me Down" went to ten and "Honey I Need" topped out at 13 in 1965. These three singles helped the group's self-titled debut reach number six on the U.K. album charts, but with success came some turbulence. Drummer Prince left toward the end of 1965 and was succeeded by Skip Alan, while the group's 1966 album Get the Picture? showed the rough, ragged rock & roll group adopting a slight pop art stance. More lineup changes soon followed -- Pendleton and Stax left by early 1967, with John Povey and Wally Waller taking their place -- and Fontana pushed the group in a softer, string-laden direction for that year's Emotions. This wasn't a hit and the Pretty Things soon lost drummer Alan and decamped for EMI's Columbia, where they recorded what is roundly regarded as their masterpiece, S.F. Sorrow. Appearing at the end of 1968, S.F. Sorrow is by many measures the first rock opera, earning a big cult but not selling much. Dick Taylor left in the wake of S.F. Sorrow -- guitarist Victor Unitt, previously of the Edgar Broughton Band, took his place -- and Alan returned to the band. This new lineup first stretched its legs supporting French playboy Philippe DeBarge as he dipped his toes into rock & roll -- these recordings were long shelved; they appeared in 2010 -- and this wasn't the only way the Pretty Things made money; they moonlighted anonymously for the music library company DeWolfe, recording film music that wound up reissued under the name Electric Banana. Despite all this activity, the next big release from the Pretty Things was Parachute in 1970, which received acclaim but no sales. The lack of success led to a temporary disbandment, but they regrouped for a new contract with Warner that was inaugurated with Freeway Madness in 1972. Next, they teamed up with manager Peter Grant -- the giant behind Led Zeppelin -- and were signed to Swan Song, which released Silk Torpedo in 1974 and Savage Eye in 1976. These harder, heavier records were a bigger success in America than any previous Pretty Things LP, but it wasn't enough to keep the group together: they split up in 1976. A full-fledged reunion teaming Phil May and Dick Taylor came in 1980 when the group recorded Cross Talk, an admirable attempt to ride the new wave that did not sell. They split again, but May and Taylor started to perform regularly under a variety of different monikers, including teaming with Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty in the '90s. As the new millennium approached, they embarked on special projects such as a revival of S.F. Sorrow, and then they recorded a brand-new full-length album called Rage...Before Beauty in 1999. Reissues and biographies followed in the 2000s as did one more album, 2007's Balboa Island, and the band also toured regularly. They decided to celebrate their 50th anniversary in style, touring Europe and the U.K. in 2013 and releasing the career-encompassing box Bouquets from a Cloudy Sky in 2015. The box set found the Pretty Things looking back during a potentially dark time, as Phil May suffered a serious health scare in 2014 when he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which impacts the lungs and makes it very difficult to breathe. But after giving up smoking and adopting a healthier lifestyle, May was well enough to begin work on a new Pretty Things album with Taylor, guitarist Frank Holland, bassist George Woosey, and drummer Jack Greenwood, and late 2015 saw the bloodied but unbowed Pretties not only winning enthusiastic reviews for The Sweet Pretty Things (Are in Bed Now, of Course...), but touring Europe and the U.K. in support. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine


text:
bk is dead
Do you have a balancing problem or do you want to make a suggestion for the game? You are at the right place.
Post Reply
6 posts • Page 1 of 1
bk is dead
As i was afraid, the speed changes were applied, and one of the most affected units was the hetzer, because apart from being very slow with "flanking speed", it is easily destroyed by the cromwell, if these changes continue, bk will be dead, or maybe there will only be skirmish.But what I am sure, is that I will not play this mod ... apparently the developers did not listen to the old players, I do not know if steam automatically updates the game or no idea .. .. I was playing pvp, and the hetzer is extremely slow with "flanking speed" now
Re: bk is dead
I dunno.... I just had a bunch of games yesterday. Were you playing the beta or regular patch.... cuz you can't play with others if you're on different versions...
- Posts: 333
- Joined: 13 Aug 2015, 21:05
Re: bk is dead
bye bye and never return
Re: bk is dead
I don't get it - the beta was updated to it's second iteration, but the regular version hasn't been touched - none of the beta-changes have been applied to the release version so far (otherwise, the beta would be over^^).
"Normal people belive... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Engineers believe... if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet."
- Scott Adams
Engineers believe... if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet."
- Scott Adams
- Panzerblitz1
- Team Member
- Posts: 1718
- Joined: 24 Nov 2014, 00:12
- Location: Paris, right under the Eiffel tower.
Re: bk is dead
same o, same o...
Re: bk is dead
I also got like 4 games in the beta yesterday. It's like half the people who complained don't realized there was a second adjustment from the first one.
Post Reply
6 posts • Page 1 of 1


text:
Filed under: American Strong Ale (trappist), Bear Republic | Tags: beans, broccoli, brown to black, chocolate malts, cocoa, dark roast malts, delicious, exciting packaging, flowers, focyus on aromatic hops, fully opaque, garlic chicken, hay, heather, leaves, like a lighter flavored chocolate stout, milky, more towards malt than hops, musk, musty, nice, peppery carbonation, pizza, some bittering hops finish, soy, staying rocky tan head, sticky intricate lace
Style and Glass: American Strong Ale, Trappist; Snifter
ABV, Volume & Calories: 6.8 % in 22 fl oz. estimated at 300 C
Purchased at: Canal's Lawrenceville for $1.66 ($19.99 for a 12 bomber case on special)
Aroma: nice, cocoa, heather, hay, flowers, leaves, musty, musk, dark roast malts.
Visuals: exciting packaging, like a lighter flavored chocolate stout, brown to black, fully opaque, staying rocky tan head, sticky intricate lace.
Taste: chocolate malts, more towards malt than hops, focyus on aromatic hops, some bittering hops finish, delicious.
Palate: milky, peppery carbonation, wash, surf, medium finish.
Overall: Amazing for the special price. I'll have it about 11 more times at least. I'd like to pair it with something like pizza, broccoli, garlic chicken, soy, beans, lots of possibilities there.


text:
Nebelhorn, Finlandia, USFS Classic and other Challenger series.
You must be logged in and have sufficient privileges to access this forum.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
Hi Lego enthusiasts.
There are a few pretty good Lego battles rulesets out there. I read them all, and weren't quite my thing. While good, they were either way too wordy, too complex, or too simple to suit me.
I've combined the best ideas that I found with a few of my own into a ruleset that fits on just one piece of paper (double sided), requires no "record sheets", works for any genre, leaves some creativity up to the players, and is fast and fun to play. Friends and I playtested it, and it works great....Booyah!
It's called Minifigz, try it. Comments welcome!


text:
Found this post on a blog I follow.
I think that at a time like this we can all use a little help, a little nudge if you will.
Best use for this is too create it on a piece of paper and charge it under a candle (green would be good) on day of Jupiter, which is Thursday. Once it is charged place it in a black bag and carry it with you, either in a wallet, purse or pocket.
Blessings of wealth be yours, but remember that wealth doesn't always mean monetary.


text:
PRINCETON — A fairly new item that is popping up in the news and is being marketed as a smoking cessation aid is the electronic cigarette.
The battery-powered device provides doses of nicotine and other additives in an aerosol tube. They are known as the cigarette that can be smoked indoors, as the substance exhaled is marketed as water vapor and has no odor.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no conclusive scientific evidence that e-cigarettes promote successful long-term quitting.
At a recent Community Partners Against Substance Abuse (CPASA) meeting, several members from the coalition spoke out about the pros and cons of these devices, which are currently unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Issues with e-cigarettes
Specialist Eileen Lacy of the National Guard pointed out the issues with marketing the numerous flavors.
"If you go into an e-cigarette shop, they have so many flavors. I went into one near my house and saw 60 different flavors," she said. "I asked the man at the counter which was the popular flavor, and he said people who generally purchase these who are smokers only get menthol and tobacco flavored. But they carry all the flavors and never sell them to anyone. The kids are going to buy the flavors."
Another issue she has is that they're not FDA regulated.
"The health departments are doing product studies, and the health risks they have determined is (inconsistent)," she said. "You have no idea what is in that liquid. It doesn't matter what's on the label."
Lacy said studies conducted by health departments have found heavy metals and other substances in the liquids.
Deb Dalton of CPASA sees no difference between conventional and electronic cigarettes.
"You're still inhaling into your lungs, which can be dangerous. You shouldn't inhale anything," she said.
Dalton explained she doesn't want to start a campaign against e-cigarettes but would like to see a ban put on TV commercials.
"I think it just glorifies cigarette smoking when it shouldn't," she said.
And now that movie stars and TV personalities are being seen using them on TV, it has the potential to draw more people to the product.
It was also mentioned at the CPASA meeting that the tubes of e-cigarettes are being used to smoke liquid cannabis and other narcotics.
"They are doing it in public because it appears to look like the e-cigs, and we don't know what people are smoking," Lacy said.
From another perspective
Mark Horwitz, who is an addiction counselor, believes nicotine is an addictive substance that is going to be poisonous and addictive to people — and from that perspective, he doesn't think e-cigarettes are a good thing.
However his wife smokes both conventional and electronic cigarettes.
"I'd prefer my wife to smoke the e-cigarettes over the conventional cigarettes because it doesn't leave a horrible smell, however, I'd prefer is she doesn't smoke at all," he said.
The Rev. Mark Harkness, who is a part of the CPASA coalition, said people need to be careful and not overact on things like electronic cigarettes.
"We have to temper our response because if we go too far overboard, we could go against ourselves," he said.
Looking at it from his point of view, if people overreact on a new product that has potential harm, sometimes it has a back-firing effect and prompts kids and adults to use the new product and shrug off the hysterical response to the item.
Is it too soon to tell?
Deb Wood, who is a part of the CPASA coalition, pointed out the long-term effects of using e-cigarettes will not be available for a long time.
"The data will be muddled, too," she said. "We won't be able to tell whether it's the regular cigarette smoker who quit and went to e-cigarettes and 10 years down the road developed cancer. They will question whether it's the conventional cigarette or e-cigarettes that caused the cancer."
CPASA Director Dawn Conerton said as more information comes out, CPASA will know where it's involvement needs to be.
"Right now it's so new that we don't know what direction we need to go," she said. "We will pay attention and make sure they don't harm our kids and adults."
It was mentioned that in the next couple months, CPASA members could come back with a comprehensive report on the pros and cons of the devices and narrow down whether it's better or not to smoke electronic cigarettes over conventional cigarettes, and talk more about how electronic cigarettes give people another way to smoke narcotics in public.
Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.


text:
As a component of its mission to grow the sport of curling, USA Curling Sport Education offers programs directed toward strengthening member clubs and enhancing the skills and experience of individual curlers. These programs*, which are lead by experienced instructors from throughout the United States, focus on coaching, ice making, instruction, and officiating. Details can be found within the links on this page. Please check our calendar for course listings.
*In an effort to enhance these educational opportunities, several USA Curling Sport Education programs are currently in the redevelopment process.
Course Conductor training program for Level I Instructor program, St. Paul Curling Club (2013)


text:
African Tragedy: Rhino Has His Horns Ripped Out WHile He's Still Alive
"This footage shows a rhino from an Eastern Cape private game reserve which had its horn hacked off while it was still alive. Vets and wildlife managers tried in vain to save its life but the wounds were too severe and it had to be put down. Help the Wilderness Foundation fight this tragedy by signing the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/foreverwild/"
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
Bethel Hospital (Winkler, Manitoba, Canada)
The Bethel Hospital at Winkler, Manitoba, was supported by voluntary gifts from Christian friends, and controlled by the Bethel Hospital Society beginning in 1935 when a committee consisting of J. J. Enns, J. A. Kroeker, J. B. Dyck, J. D. Adrian, Dr. A. H. Unruh, C. H. Grünau, secretary, and A. A. Kroeker, chairman, secured the upper floor of the J. B. Dyck residence as a maternity home. The following September the first section of Bethel Hospital was constructed. This provided accommodation for 12 beds. In 1942 the south wing was added, thereby increasing the bed capacity to 36, and in 1946 the north wing was built of fire-resisting materials at a cost of $50,000. This raised the bed capacity to 40 and it also provided two excellent operating rooms as well as space for the installation of modern X-ray diagnostic equipment.
A staff of four registered and nine practical nurses, under Miss Susie Derksen, matron, ministered to the needs of the patients who numbered 354 males, 851 females, and 141 infants in 1948. There were 179 outpatients that year and Dr. C. W. Wiebe and Dr. A. P. Warkentin performed 509 surgical operations.
In 2001 the Bethel Hospital was amalgamated with the Morden Hospital into the new Boundary Trails Health Centre located on Highway 14 between Morden and Winkler. The old facility was used for a practical nursing program.
Bethel Hospital, 1936-1949. Winkler, MB: The Hospital, 1949.
Manitoba Government Information Services. "Legislative Electronic Publications -- New Boundary Trails Health Centre Opens." 10 May 2001. Accessed 29 December 2006. <http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/press/top/2001/05/2001-05-10-01.html>
|Peter Braun
|Sam Steiner
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Braun, Peter and Sam Steiner. "Bethel Hospital (Winkler, Manitoba, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2001. Web. 9 Aug 2020. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bethel_Hospital_(Winkler,_Manitoba,_Canada)&oldid=75519.
APA style
Braun, Peter and Sam Steiner. (2001). Bethel Hospital (Winkler, Manitoba, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 9 August 2020, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bethel_Hospital_(Winkler,_Manitoba,_Canada)&oldid=75519.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 309. All rights reserved.
©1996-2020 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


text:
This coming week is a busy one on a number of fronts. Our second Android Workshop takes place at 7pm Tuesday, March 23rd at the Galway Bakery Company. It will give participants an opportunity to hold a reverse Q&A on the SDK based on their experiences over the last week. Come upstairs to the back section when you arrive and we will order from there. Some of us are heading to Dublin for the Mitch Altman and Jimmie P Rodgers Electronic Workshop at the Science Gallery. We also hope to pay a visit to TOG enroute.
Hotel Meyrick plays host to Twestival Galway on March 25th. If you are free on the day try and swing by to support a very worthy cause. 091 Labs is contributing a small prize for the raffle on the night. This years Irish Blog Awards are being held in the Radisson Hotel, Galway at 8:00pm Saturday, March 27th. Tickets are still available for the event for those interested. Looking forward to meeting participants at all of the above events!


text:
After running deficits for most of the 1980s, an export boom helped bring the current account back into a small surplus in 1991 (aided, that year, by the financial assistance the US received from other countries to pay for the Gulf War). The deficit began to grow again in 1992, and in the mid-2000's seemed to be on an ever-increasing path.
US Current Account (% of GDP), 1980-2006
The flow of borrowing naturally generated an increasing net stock of debt - the United States' foreign liabilities exceeded its assets in 1986, and the net international investment position (assets minus liabilities) became increasingly negative during the 2000's.
And yet, while this data seemed to indicate that the US was on an unsustainable borrowing path - and perhaps facing the risk that the willingness of the rest of the world to lend to it could quickly evaporate in a "sudden stop" crisis, like a number of emerging market countries had experienced - the US continued to receive more in income from its foreign assets than it made in payments to foreign holders of US assets. That is, the income balance part of the current account remained positive.
US Net Income from Abroad, 1980-2006a December, 2005 op-ed, they explained:
We propose a different way of describing the facts. We measure the assets according to how much they earn and the current account by how much these assets change over time. This is just like valuing a company by calculating its earnings and multiplying by a price-earnings ratio. Of course this opens up methodological questions, but the discrepancies with official numbers are so big that the details do not matter. To keep things simple in what follows we just take an arbitrary 5 per cent rate of return, which implies a price-earnings ratio of 20.This hypothesis generated a considerable amount of discussion, nicely summarized in this Economist article from January 2006. Many economists were skeptical of such a blithe interpretation of the situation. One of the people quoted by the Economist was William Cline:
Let's get to work. We know that the US net income on its financial portfolio is $30bn. This is a 5 per cent return on an asset of $600bn. So the US is a $600bn net creditor, not a $4,100bn net debtor. Since the assets have remained stable then on average the US has not had a current account deficit at all over the past 25 years. That is why it is still a net creditor.
We call the $4,700bn difference between our measure of US net assets and the standard numbers "dark matter", because it corresponds to assets that generate revenue but cannot be seen.
Mr Cline agrees with the dark materialists when they say there is "something misleading about calling a country that makes money on its financial position the world's largest debtor". But sadly he does not think Americans can stop worrying. After making $36.2 billion in 2004, America made just $4 billion on its net foreign assets in the first three quarters of 2005. If it continues on its present trajectory, it will shell out about $190 billion in 2010, Mr Cline calculates. Using Messrs Hausmann and Sturzenegger's methodology, America's net foreign assets would then amount to minus $3.8 trillion. A dark matter indeed.Seven years later, the US current account remains in deficit, though much less so:
US Current Account (% of GDP), 2001-2011
That is, the US is still borrowing from the rest of the world, but at a reduced pace. The value of the US' net foreign assets has been volatile as markets and currencies have gyrated over the past several years, but the official data says the US is even more in debt to the rest of the world now:
US Net Income from Abroad, 2001-2011
Repeating Hausmann and Sturzenegger's calculation today says that (as of the end of 2011) the US was a net creditor by $4540 billion. Relative to the official net international investment position of $4030 billion, that implies a stock of "dark matter" of $8570 billion!
Although the main source of "Dark Matter" in Hausmann and Sturzzenegger's original reckoning was the "know how" that helped US firms earn higher returns on Foreign Direct Investment (i.e., this was the main missing export), the most relevant for understanding what's happened since is probably the idea that the US exports "liquidity" and "insurance" services by selling assets that are considered safe and liquid by the rest of the world (e.g. US Treasury and "agency" - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds), while buying riskier assets.
The worry, circa 2005, was that buyers of US debt would run for the exit, leading to a spike in US interest rates and a collapse in the dollar. The crisis we actually got had the opposite effect, as everyone rushed into US debt, which has helped drive yields down. The US' net income is boosted by the fact that its paying very low returns on all those Treasuries being held abroad these days. In Hausmann and Sturzenegger's framework, the financial crisis has been a huge boon to US exports of (unmeasured) liquidity and insurance services.


text:
Use the form below to contact us. We'd love to hear from you!
We do not collect any personal information unless you submit your email address to join our mailing list. When we check site views and statistics, we do not publish any personal information anywhere that is identifiable with you, the individual.
As we do not collect any personal information, we also do not share it elsewhere.
If you joined our mailing list but no longer wish to be on it, just hit Unsubscribe when you receive the next email. If you unsubscribe, you are opting out and will no longer have any information sent to you.


text:
The Victrola Shop
Ebay Sales
RECORDS: Buying
Eternal Salvation
God Will Not Be Mocked
"A Victrola in every home!"
The Victrola Shop
We buy, sell, repair, restore all makes and models of windup phonographs, phonograph ephemera, advertising, records and cylinders, Nipper dog items.
The Victrola Shop
has nearly twenty years experience in the repair and restoration of spring wound phonographs, phonograph cabinets, sound boxes and reproducers, and cylinder machines. We are a small family owned shop located in South Georgia. We do business by old fashioned Christian standards. If it
"ain't broke"
we won't tell you it needs fixing. All items are inspected for FREE. Upon inspection
The Victrola Shop
will provide a full estimate of both repairs needed and the cost for the needed repairs. Once a repair price is quoted it will never be increased but there are times when prices may be reduced - if for example a needed part should become available at a lesser price that price savings will be passed on to you. We strive to perform extraordinary service at prices far below most other shops. Try us!
Please browse our web site by selecting one of our pages: PHONOGRAPHS FOR SALE, REPAIRS, RECORDS & CYLINDERS, RESTORATION, PARTS, or CONTACT US
The Victrola Shop
will be delighted to assist you with your phonograph and records needs!
The Victrola Shop
Professional Service - Low Prices - Warranty Service - Christian Standards
(912) 389 1223 South Georgia USA
Web Hosting
powered by Network Solutions®


text:
I wanted to thank those of you who sent me messages today inquiring how the sono went yesterday. I know many of you were praying, and I am sorry for the delay in posting--it's been a *difficult* couple of days, for various reasons, and I have not been able to find hardly a moment to post!
All went extremely wonderfully yesterday, and I am happy to report that my placenta has moved North! Albeit slowly, there has been definite progress--enough to remove me from my activity restrictions. I was so happy to hear that, and thankful that our prayers--and many of yours--were answered in this way!
Thought I would share a few more pictures of the little one, and one of me as well. Have a great night, and thank you again to all of you who genuinely care for my and Peanut's well-being...I'm so thankful for each one of you!
Sweet little foot
An almost perfect shot of the face
And me, at 23 weeks and 3 days


text:
Servicios Personalizados
Links relacionados
- Citado por Google
- Similares en Google
Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering
versión On-line ISSN 2309-8775
versión impresa ISSN 1021-2019
J. S. Afr. Inst. Civ. Eng. vol.52 no.1 Midrand abr. 2010
Infilling annual rainfall data using feedforward back-propagation Artificial Neural Networks (ANN): application of the standard and generalised back-propagation techniques
M Ilunga
Water resource planning and management require long time series of hydrological data (e.g. rainfall, river flow). However, sometimes hydrological time series have missing values or are incomplete. This paper describes feedforward artificial neural network (ANN) techniques used to infill rainfall data, specifically annual total rainfall data. The standard back-propagation (BP) technique and the generalised BP technique were both used and evaluated. The root mean square error of predictions (RMSEp) was used to evaluate the performance of these techniques. A preliminary case study in South Africa was done using the Bleskop rainfall station as the control and the Luckhoff-Pol rainfall station as the target. It was shown that the generalised BP technique generally performed slightly better than the standard BP technique when applied to annual total rainfall data. It was also observed that the RMSEp increased with the proportion of missing values in both techniques. The results were similar when other rainfall stations were used. It is recommended for further study that these techniques be applied to other rainfall data (e.g. annual maximum series, etc) and to rainfall data from other climatic regions.
Keywords: rainfall data infilling, artificial neural network, back-propagation
A considerable amount of data on hydrological variables such as rainfall, streamflow, etc are required for the planning, management and effective control of water resource systems. Annual rainfall is used for agricultural planning since the total amount of rainfall is among the most important factors that affect agricultural systems. Crop production in semi-arid regions like South Africa is largely determined by the annual total rainfall; however, rainfall is the limiting factor in these areas. Sometimes hydrological data series have missing values or are incomplete. In such cases, the reliability of the design of, for example, a hydropower plant and the construction of dams, can be severely affected. Limited financial resources, poor management of data related to water resources, temporary absence of observers, cessation of measurement or no reliable hydrological networks can lead to incomplete or missing data in hydrological time-series. This situation is common in developing countries.
In South Africa, for example, the overwhelming majority of gaps are caused by the temporary absence of observers, the cessation of measurement or absence of observations prior to the commencement of measurement (Makhuvha et al 1997). In Bolivia, due to the limited financial resources, even a minimum national network could not be achieved according to the meteorological network density ratio (Balek 1972).
Developing countries generally lag behind in the use of new technologies to process their statistical data (Sadowsky 1989). Yet their needs are just as great; they need to achieve a viable statistical data processing capability if they are to provide, on a continuous and sustained basis, the essential statistical information needed for their development planning and administration (Sadowsky 1989). Most of the old data for developing countries have been lost due to non-existent database storage (Medeiros et al 2002).
Several hydrological data infilling techniques have been developed. These techniques include artificial neural networks (ANNs), regression methods, deterministic models, stochastic models for rainfall-runoff modelling, flood forecasting/prediction and water quality modelling (Lawrence et al 1996; Minns & Hall 1996; Raman & Sunilkumar 1995). Although several studies indicate that ANNs have proven to be potentially useful tools in hydrology, their disadvantages should not be disregarded (ASCE Task Committee 2000b). The success of an ANN application depends both on the quality and the quantity of data available (ASCE Task Committee 2000b). This requirement cannot go back far enough. Quite often the requisite data are not available and have to be generated by other means, such as another well-tested model. Even when long historical records are available, it is not certain that conditions have remained homogeneous over the time span. Therefore data sets recorded over a period that was relatively stable and unaffected by human activities are desirable. Yet another limitation of ANNs is the lack of physical concepts and relations. The lack of a standardised way of selecting a network architecture has also been criticised. The choices of network architecture, training algorithm and definition are usually determined by the user's experience and preference, rather than by the physical aspects of the problem (ASCE Task Committee 2000a,b)
Despite the criticisms levelled against ANN techniques (ASCE Task Committee 2000ab), they were found to be powerful tools when compared to multivariate regression-based models for infilling streamflow data (Panu et al 2000). Kuligowski and Barros (1998) showed that ANNs gave promising results in the estimation of missing rainfall data when compared to other methods such as regression techniques. ANN techniques can be used to express a non-linear mapping between variables with no prior assumptions as to the variables (linear or non-linear as in regression methods), and these techniques can cope with missing data (French et al 1992). Over the past decade, ANNs have been used intensively in hydrology and water-related fields (Lawrence et al 1996; Minns & Hall 1996; Raman & Sunilkumar 1995; French et al 1992; Wilby & Dawson 1998). However, the application of ANNs for infilling rainfall data remains limited. In addition, there is nothing in the literature on the use of the generalised BP (back-propagation) ANN technique for infilling hydrological data, specifically for rainfall data, which generally show a relatively high variability both in time and space.
This paper discusses feedforward ANN techniques used for rainfall data infilling. The standard back-propagation (BP) technique (Freeman and Skapura 1991) is compared to the generalised BP technique which has been introduced for the first time in hydrology, specifically for rainfall data infilling problems. Note that the generalised BP was initially used for different problems which included the "Exclusive-Or" problem (XOR) and the 3-bit parity and 5-bit counting problems (Ng et al 1996). The root mean square error of predictions (RMSEp) is then used as a criterion to evaluate the performance of these two techniques. A case study is presented to demonstrate the performance of the two techniques. The terms algorithm and technique are used interchangeably in this paper.
Overview of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)
ANNs are networks of interconnected simple units (nodes) based on a greatly simplified model of the human biological system, which are capable of representing non-linear and complex interactions between variables without prior specification. There are two main types of ANNs: feedforward networks (where the signal is propagated only from the input nodes to the output nodes) and recurrent networks (where the signal is propagated in both directions). The advantage of ANNs, even if the "exact" relationship between sets of input and output data is unknown but is acknowledged to exist, is that they can be trained to learn that relationship, and require no prior underlying assumptions (non-linear vs linear) as in conventional methods. ANNs are regarded as ultimate black box models (Minns & Hall 1996). ANNs were shown to be generally superior in sediment yield models when compared to linear transfer function models (Argawal et al 2005). ANNs seek to learn patterns, but not to replicate the physical processes of transforming input to output (Minns & Hall, 1996). As opposed to conventional methods, ANNs are thought to have the ability to cope with the missing data and, perhaps most importantly, are able to generalise a relationship from small subsets of data while remaining relatively robust in the presence of noisy or missing inputs. Thus ANNs can learn in response to a changing environment (Wilby & Dawson 1998). Since the early 1990s, ANNs have been successfully used in the area of water resource engineering related to rainfall/runoff forecasting (Minns & Hall 1996; Agarwal & Singh 2001); streamflow data infilling (e.g. Panu et al 2000; Khalil et al 2001; Elshorbagy et al 2000; Ilunga & Stephenson 2005); validation and correction of high-frequency water quality data (Quilty et al 2004) and rainfall data infilling (Kuligowski & Barros 1998). The latter authors used ANNs to estimate the missing rainfall data at the target rainfall station from nearby rainfall stations. The issues of data quality for computational intelligence in earth sciences were also discussed by Cherkassy et al (2006). However, the application of ANNs hydrological data infilling is still very limited, specifically for rainfall data infilling. Some authors (e.g. Panu et al 2000; Khalil et al 2001; Elshorbagy et al 2000, Ilunga & Stephenson 2005) developed ANN techniques for cases where data were available before and after missing periods of data (e.g. consecutive missing values). Three-layered ANNs have been used intensively for that purpose. The hidden-layer feedforward neural network is one of the most common architectures used by neurohydrologists (Panu et al 2000; Khalil et al 2001; Elshorbagy et al 2000; French et al 1992; Minns & Hall 1996; Agarwal & Singh 2001). These hydrologists believe that certain problems in hydrology and water resources can be solved using ANNs.
Standard back-propagation (BP) technique
The standard BP technique is only outlined in this section and for more details the reader is referred to, for example, Freeman and Skapura (1991). Given a three-layered ANN as depicted in Figure 1, in standard BP the adjustment of the interconnecting weights during training employs a method known as error back-propagation in which the weight associated with each connection is adjusted by an amount proportional to the strength of the signal in the connection and the total measure of the error. The total error at the output layer is then reduced by redistributing this error value backwards through the hidden layers until the input layer is reached. This process is repeated until the total error for all data sets is sufficiently small. The weight changes to the output layer and hidden layer are given by Equations (1) and (2) respectively:
where i is the unit node in the input layer, j is the unit node in the hidden layer, p is the pattern, k is the neuron related to the output layer, η is the learning rate, δpk0 and δpjh are error terms (which encompass a derivative part) for output units and hidden units respectively, t is the t-th iteration, wkj0(t) and wjih (t) are weights in the output layer and the hidden layer respectively at t-iteration, and xi and ipj are inputs to unit nodes i and j respectively.
For practical considerations, it is sometime suggested that the bias terms be removed altogether, i.e. their use is optional (Freeman & Skapura 1991).
In the standard BP, the learning process is done through both sequential and batch modes. In the former mode the process of learning is governed by the error of each data set and the weight update is made for each sample of the training, and in the latter mode the weights at each iteration are adjusted only after all the data sets have been processed.
An activation function is used to express the non-linear relationship process between the input and output data. This function can be any threshold function or any continuous function. It is normally a monotonic non-decreasing function and differentiable everywhere for x values. The activation function most commonly used is a sigmoid, non-linear continuous function between 0 and 1 and is represented as follows:
Freeman and Skapura (1991) proposed that a range of x values from 0,1 to 0,9 should be used for practical purposes. This range is adopted in this paper. Thus the input data and the output data will be scaled (during training of ANNs) to adhere to the above range. A linear scaling was used in this paper. For ANNs, input data and output data scaling can speed up the convergence of the neural system. It also gives each input equal importance, prevents premature saturation of the activation function and aids the generalisation capability (i.e. neural networks can approximate values that they did not see during training). Therefore the equations used in this paper should not contain any unit as they apply to scaled numbers used during the training of ANNs.
The majority of ANNs applied in water resources involve the use of feedforward propagation. The standard BP (which is a gradient descent method) has been criticised because convergence to an optimal solution is not always guaranteed (Agarwal & Singh 2001). In other words, the method guarantees that the algorithm will find the nearest local minimum. Consequently, the solution often follows a zig-zag path while trying to reach the minimum error position, which may slow down the training process (ASCE Task Committee 2000a). Thus several variants of BP such as Bayesian regulation, the conjugate gradients method, adaptive stepsize, the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, causal recursive BP, Maclaurin pseudo-power series, and the generalised BP introduced recently by Ilunga and Stephenson (2005), were proposed. Despite these criticisms, it appears that in practice BP leads to solutions in almost every case and that standard multilayer feedforward networks are capable of approximating any measurable function to any desired degree of accuracy, as stated by Minns and Hall (1996). In the following section the generalised BP algorithm is briefly described.
Generalised BP algorithm
The main reason for criticism of the use of standard back-propagation is due to the derivative of the sigmoid activation function (Ng et al 1996). When the actual output of the -th output neuron for the p -th pattern (i.e. opk) approaches the extreme values such as 0 or 1, the derivative of the activation function having the factor opk (1 - opk) will not be significant, and the BP error signal will become very small (Ng et al 1996). Thus the output can be maximally wrong without producing a large error signal. The algorithm can be trapped into local minima. Consequently the weight adjustment of the algorithm can be very slow or even suppressed. Therefore a generalisation of the derivative of the activation function (i.e. logistic) is proposed so as to improve the convergence of the learning process by preventing the error signal dropping to a very small value.
In generalised BP, the error signals for the output layer and hidden layer now become:
where opk is the target output, netpk is the net input to the output layer, netpk is the net input to the hidden layer, fk0' is the first derivative of the sigmoid function for the k-th neuron in the output layer, is the first derivative of the sigmoid function for the j-th neuron in the hidden layer, k, h and j have been previously defined, and b is the generalisation parameter. In this case b > 1. For b = 1, this results in the standard BP algorithm.
The effect of generalised BP is to change the slope of the sigmoid function in the two "tail" regions. For b 1, errors will be significantly enlarged when opk approaches a wrong value, and hence the error signals will reflect the true error (ypk - opk) more appropriately. The generalised BP technique was applied to different problems including the "Exclusive-Or" problem XOR and the 3-bit parity and 5-bit counting problems (Ng et al 1996). The results were not good for b 50. However, this technique has not yet been applied in hydrology or water-related fields, specifically for data infilling problems.
Tests were performed to determine whether the statistics (e.g. mean and standard deviation) of the infilled annual rainfall totals are significantly different from the observed annual rainfall totals at the target stations.
In practice a level of significance of 0,05 or 0,01 is customary, although other values are used. In other words, there is about a 5-in-100 chance that the hypothesis will be rejected when it should be accepted. There is a 95% confidence level that the right decision is made.
The tests on means and standard deviations are performed as explained by Spiegel and Boxer (1972). The tests are explained in the following sections.
Test on means
For large sample sizes N (N > 30), the sampling distribution of the statistic can be assumed to be a (nearly) normal distribution with mean and standard deviation s. The test is performed based on the following rule decision or test of hypothesis or significance:
(a) Reject the hypothesis at a 0,05 level of significance if the Z score of the statistic (e.g. mean) lies outside the range -1,96 to 1,96. In the case of means, the null hypothesis H0 : µ = µ0 is tested against the alternative hypothesis Ha : µ ≠ µ0 (where µ0 is the population mean).
(b) Accept the hypothesis (or if desired make no decision at all).
The Z score is computed using the following equation:
Where µ and σ are the mean and standard deviation of the population and is the sample mean (with s =)
Test on standard deviations
For large values of the degrees of freedom γ, (γ> 30), (with γ = N - 1) and using the chi-square(2) test, the 95% confidence limit is given by:
and are calculated as follows:
The annual rainfall totals for the Bleskop station (SAWS gauge no 02284170) and the Luckhoff-Pol station (SAWS gauge no 0228495) were considered for this preliminary study to test the performance of the two techniques, i.e. standard BP and generalised BP. (These two rainfall stations were selected randomly.) These rainfall stations are about 20 km apart and belong to the secondary drainage region named D33 of the Orange River Drainage System (D) of South Africa. The monthly rainfall data were obtained from the report by Midgley et al (1994). The geographical location and other characteristics of the selected rainfall stations located in the summer rainfall zone are listed in Tables 1 and 2.
Gauge 0228495 (Luckhoff-Pol) was taken as the target gauge and gauge 0228170 (Bleskop) as the control gauge. Gauge 0228170 was chosen as the control since it gave better results during trials of the estimation of missing values at gauge 0228495 than when gauge 0228495 was considered to fill in the missing values at gauge 0228170. The mean monthly rainfall information listed in Table 2 was obtained by multiplying the MAP (in mm) by the monthly rainfall as a percentage of MAP since this was drawn from the Water Research Report WRC 298/3.1/94. (The computer programme HDY08 output is a monthly time-series, expressed as a percentage of MAP, and is representative of the rainfall zone.)
Other rainfall stations were added to this preliminary study: the Touws River station (SAWS gauge no 0044050) and the Jan Deboers station (SAWS gauge no 0044286). The 0044050 and 0044286 rainfall stations are about 15 km apart and belong specifically to the J1C rainfall zone of the primary river drainage system (J) in the Western Cape. The geographical locations of the selected rainfall stations 0044050 and 0044286 is given in Table 3. Gauge 0044050 was taken as the target gauge and gauge 0044286 as the control gauge. This was done in a similar way as explained above. The mean monthly rainfall information (Table 4) was calculated directly from the data since data files were obtained from the SAWS. The annual rainfall totals for the Isidenge station (SAWS gauge no 0079490) and the Izeleni station (SAWS gauge no 0079730) were considered as well. The 0079490 and 0079730 rainfall stations are about 14 km apart and belong to the S6A rainfall zone of the primary river drainage system s (S) in the Eastern Cape. The geographical locations of the selected rainfall stations, 0079490 and 0079730 are listed in Table 5. The mean monthly rainfall information as listed in Table 6 was calculated directly from the data since data files were obtained from the SAWS. Gauge 0079490 was taken as the target gauge and gauge 0079730 as the control gauge as in the previous cases.
The hydrological year starts in October and ends in September for the data used.
The SAWS rainfall data used in this study were checked for general reliability and consistency using a mass plot, i.e. a plot of cumulative rainfall against time, as outlined by Midgley et al (1994).
The two techniques, i.e. standard BP and generalised BP, were applied to the different rainfall data sets. In the following, the results of the application of these techniques are presented and discussed.
The selected rainfall data sets (stations 00228170 and 00228295) of the Orange River Drainage System were complete and had no periods of missing data. However, for testing both infilling techniques, some consecutive gaps (e.g. 7, 13, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45% of missing data, starting from 1935) were created randomly in the target rainfall station data set (station 0228495).
The selected rainfall data sets in the Western Cape (stations 0044050 and 0044286) and in the Eastern Cape (stations 0079490 and 0079730) were complete and had no periods of missing data. However, for testing the different infilling techniques (i.e. the standard BP and the generalised BP), some consecutive gaps (e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45% of missing data, starting from 1965) were created randomly in the target rainfall station data set, i.e. 0044050. Similarly, some consecutive gaps (e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45% of missing data, starting from 1930) were created in the target rainfall station data set, i.e. 0079790.
The two techniques were then applied to annual total rainfall series. The ANNs were trained on the concurrent parts of the observed data using a sequential mode and the weights obtained were then used to estimate the missing values. The approach was similar to that used by Kuligowski and Barros (1998). A single input-output, three-layered ANN with three nodes in the hidden layer was used and the bias terms were assumed to be zero as their use is optional. Learning rates set to 0,15 and 0,45 yielded reasonable results, although a wide range of values (i.e. between 0,01 and 0,9) for the learning rate was tried. Input and output values were scaled linearly to fall within the range 0,1 to 0,9 as mentioned earlier. Tables 7, 8 and 9 contain a summary of the results obtained from the two techniques. It was found that a value of 5 for the generalisation parameter gave good results for the generalised BP technique at rainfall station 00228295, while a value of 3 for the generalisation parameter yielded good results for the same technique at rainfall stations 0044050 and 0079490.
From Tables 7, 8 and 9 it is evident that the RMSEp at the target station increases with the proportion of missing values (gap size) for both techniques. Thus the accuracy decreases as the proportion of missing annual total rainfall values increases. A similar observation was made for a streamflow data infilling problem (Ilunga & Stephenson 2005). This situation (in this study) could be due to the fact that the generalisation capability of the two techniques of neural networks reduces as the proportion of missing values to be infilled becomes larger. In other words, as the periods of missing data increase, so the neural network is trained on smaller data sets and thus verified on a larger proportion of data. Hence the generalisation capability of ANNs decreases. It was noted that earlier missing record periods (e.g. 1928) in the records of the target station 0228495 did not have a significant impact on the accuracy of the estimated values for the different techniques.
A similar observation was made that earlier missing periods (1965) in the record of target rainfall station 0044050 did not apparently have any impact on the accuracy of the estimated values for the different techniques. Similarly, it was noted that earlier gaps (1925) in the record of target rainfall station 0079490 did apparently not have any impact on the accuracy of the estimated values for the different techniques.
In Figures 2 to 10, StandardBP and Generalised BP refer to standard back-propagation and generalised back-propagation techniques.
By and large, generalised BP performed slightly better than standard BP. The plots shown in Figures 2 and 3, 5 and 6, and 8 and 9 confirm these results: the differences in the estimated missing values at rainfall station 0228495 are generally small, whereas the differences in the estimated missing values at rainfall stations 0044050 and 0079490 are more prominent. This could be due to the generalisation para meter introduced in the update Equations (4) and (5). In the cases under discussion, the generalised parameter is believed to slightly improve the approximation of the output signal without producing a large error signal in the neural network when the actual input for the given neuron and pattern approaches the limits, i.e. 0,1 and 0,9. This could therefore support the premise behind the generalised BP algorithm (Ng et al 1996) that a generalisation of the derivative of the activation function (i.e. logistic) enables improvement of the convergence of the learning process by limiting the error signal drop to a very small value. From Figures 4, 7 and 10 it can also be seen that for all algorithms the bigger the proportion of missing values (gap size), the bigger the RMSEp, hence the accuracy decreases. The two lines (obtained from the scatter data points) in Figure 4 are very close, while in Figures 7 and 10 the two lines are not very close. This could correlate with the observation that the differences in estimated values at station 0228495 were very small for both techniques. The two techniques were generally shown to give a good estimation of the annual total rainfall values.
From the above it can be said that both the standard BP and the generalised BP algorithms are acceptable to fill in the annual rainfall values for rainfall stations 0228495, 0044050 and 0079790. It was shown that there was no significant breach of statistical properties (i.e. the mean and the variance of the incomplete and infilled rainfall series specifically at the target rainfall station). The hypothesis test was conducted on the basis of the statistical method explained above. The mean and variance of the observed annual rainfall totals at the target stations were considered (assumed) as an estimation of the population mean and variance respectively. The mean of the infilled data series for each proportion of missing values was tested (at 95% confidence interval) for acceptance or rejection of the mean of the annual rainfall totals remaining unchanged. The different tests revealed that the results could generally be accepted at 95% confidence interval, except for a 45% missing proportion at rainfall station 0079790 as shown in Tables 10, 11, 12 and 13.
For the generalised BP technique as applied in this paper, the generalisation parameter was purposely not strictly restricted to the conditions of binary problems, i.e. b 1 and b 50 for good results. In the current case, the results became less accurate for b 5. This could be due to the type of problem tackled here (i.e. data infilling) and the nature of the data (i.e. rainfall) used.
The generalised BP technique has been introduced for the first time in hydrology, specifically for a rainfall data infilling problem. This technique was compared to the standard BP technique. The performance of the two techniques was evaluated through RMSEp for annual rainfall data. The preliminary results using the rainfall station pair 0228170 (control) and 0228495 (target) showed that the generalised BP technique performed slightly better than the standard BP technique. However, the standard BP had no negative impact on the estimation of missing values at the target station. Both techniques were acceptable for infilling the missing annual total rainfall data at station 0228495. Hence either of these techniques could be used for infilling annual rainfall totals. The results were similar when other station pairs were used: 0044050 (control) and 0044050 (target) and 0079030 (control) and 0079090 (target).
It was also observed that the RMSEp at the different target stations generally increased with an increase in the proportion of missing values (gap size) for both techniques. It is suggested that the impact of other activation functions (e.g. hyperbolic) as well as the batch-training mode for neural networks should be investigated. The techniques used in this study should also be tested on other rainfall data sets. A sensitivity analysis of the generalisation parameter on the accuracy of estimated rainfall values should also be investigated. These results were based on the techniques applied to annual total rainfall data. It is recommended that other rainfall data should also be tried (e.g. maximum series, mean annual, etc) and data from other climatic regions should also be used to evaluate the techniques.
The author thanks the South African Weather Service for providing the rainfall data used in this research paper.
Agarwal, A & Singh, J K 2001. Pattern and batch learning ANN process in rainfall-runoff modeling. Indian Association of Hydrologists. Journal of Hydrology, 24(1): 1-14. [ Links ]
Agarwal, A, Singh, R D, Mishra, SK & Bhunya, PK 2005. ANN-based sediment yield models for Vamsadhara river basin (India). Water SA, 31(1): 95-100. [ Links ]
ASCE Task Committee (2000a) Artificial neural networks in hydrology I: Preliminary concepts. Journal of Hydrological Engineering, 5(2): 115-123. [ Links ]
ASCE Task Committee (2000b) Artificial neural networks in hydrology I: Hydrologic applications. Journal of Hydrological Engineering, 5(2): 124-137. [ Links ]
Balek, J 1972. An application of the inadequate hydrological data of the African tropical regions in engineering design. Proceedings, 2nd International Hydrological Symposium, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, pp 95-96. [ Links ]
Cherkassky, V, Krasnopolsky, V, Slomatine, D P & Valdes, J 2006. Computational intelligence in earth sciences and environmental applications. Neural Networks, 19: 113-121. [ Links ]
Elshorbagy, A A, Panu, U S & Siminovic S P 2000. Group-based estimation of missing hydrological data: I. Approach and general methodology. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 45(6): 849-866. [ Links ]
Freeman, A J & Skapura, M D 1991. Neural Networks: Algorithms, Application and Programming Techniques. Redwood City, CA: Addison Wesley. [ Links ]
French, N, Krajewsky, F & Cuykendall, R 1992. Rainfall forecasting in space and time using neural network. Journal of Hydrology, 137: 1-31. [ Links ]
Ilunga, M & Stephenson, D 2005. Infilling streamflow data using feedforward back-propagation (BP) artificial neural networks: Application of the standard BP and pseudo MacLaurin power series BP techniques. Water SA, 2: 171-176. [ Links ]
Khalil, M, Panu, U S & Lennox, W C 2001. Group and neural networks based streamflow data infilling procedures. Journal of Hydrology, 241: 153-176. [ Links ]
Kuligowski, R J & Barros, A P 1998. Using artificial neural networks to estimate missing rainfall. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 34: 1437-1447. [ Links ]
Lawrence, S, Tsoi, C A & Giles, L 1996. Local minima and generalization. IEEE Proceedings, International Conference on Neural Networks, 1: 371-376. [ Links ]
Makhuva, T, Pegram, G, Sparks, R & Zucchini, W 1997. Patching rainfall data using regression methods. 1. Best subset selection, EM and pseudo-EM methods: Theory. Journal of Hydrology, 198: 289-307. [ Links ]
Medeiros, Y D P, Fiuza, J M S, Figueira, C C & Sema, C S 2002. Information in Salitre River Basin-Bahia, Brazil. In: Sherif, M M, Singh, V & Al-Rashed, M (Eds), Groundwater Hydrology, Netherlands: Balkema, pp. 21-35. [ Links ]
Midgley, D C, Pitman, WV & Middleton, B J 1994a. Surface water resources of South Africa, 1990, lst edition. Water Research Commission Report No. 298/3.1/94. [ Links ]
Minns, A W & Hall, M J 1996. Artificial neural network as rainfall-runoff models, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 41(3): 399-417. [ Links ]
Ng, S C, Leung, S H & Luk, A 1996. A generalization backpropagation algorithm for faster convergence. IEEE Proceedings, International Conference on Neural Networks, 1: 409-413. [ Links ]
Panu, U S, Khalil M & Elshorbagy A 2000. Streamflow data infilling techniques based on concepts of groups and neural networks. In: Artificial Neural Networks in Hydrology, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp 235-258. [ Links ]
Quilty, E, Hudson, P & Farahmand, T 2004. Artificial neural networks for validation and correction of higher frequency water quality data. Proceedings, 11th CWWA National Conference, Calgary, Canada, pp 1-14. [ Links ]
Raman, H & Sunilkumar, N 1995. Multivariate modelling of water resources time-series using artificial neural networks. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 40(2): 145-163. [ Links ]
Sadowsky, G 1989. Statistical data processing in developing countries. Applications of emerging Technology. CEUS: Emerging Technology, pp 1-26. [ Links ]
Spiegel, M R 1972. Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Statistics in SI Units. Schaum's Outline Series, New York: McGraw-Hill. [ Links ]
Wilby, R & Dawson, C W 1998. An artificial neural network approach to rainfall-runoff modeling. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 43(1): 47-66. [ Links ]
|DR MASENGO ILUNGA is a senior lecturer and the current Head of Department of the Civil and Chemical Engineering Department at UNISA. He is also the leader of the UNISA Water Research Group and teaches subjects related to water engineering. His current research interests are artificial intelligence, entropy, statistical techniques and modelling in hydrology and water resources.
Contact details:
College of Science, Engineering and Technology
Civil and Chemical Engineering
University of South Africa
E: email@example.com


text:
American Geophysical Union Honors NASA's Bill Patzert
Bill Patzert, an oceanographer and climatologist at JPL, has been honored by the American Geophysical Union for his contributions to improving public understanding of Earth science. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
PASADENA, Calif. - Bill Patzert, an oceanographer and climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has been honored by the American Geophysical Union with its 2010 Athelstan Spilhaus Award for his contributions to improving public understanding of Earth science.
Patzert is receiving the award at a ceremony today at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The Athelstan Spilhaus Award honors American Geophysical Union members who have devoted parts of their lives to enhancing public understanding of Earth and space science. Established in 2003, the award is named in honor of Athelstan F. Spilhaus Sr., a geophysicist and meteorologist who made groundbreaking contributions to science, education and public service.
Called by some the "Prophet of California Climate," Patzert has served as the face and voice of JPL oceanography and climate change to local, regional, national and international news outlets for more than a quarter century. A strong supporter of NASA's outreach and education efforts, Patzert frequently speaks to schools and environmental and business groups about the importance of Earth's ocean and climate science.
"To me, the Spilhaus Award is about the passionate telling of science stories," said Patzert. "Communicating science to the public isn't always easy, but it is always essential. Today, perhaps more than at any time in the past, it is vital that scientists tell compelling, correct and understandable stories, because we live in a time when climate science and scientists are under fire."
Patzert graduated from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., and earned a doctorate in oceanography from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. He joined JPL in 1983. During his career he has consulted for numerous organizations, including NASA, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the United Nations and many scientific and environmental groups. His research interests include improving climate forecasting, and analyzing and interpreting sea surface height data from NASA ocean satellites, which are used to monitor sea level rise and forecast and analyze such climate phenomena as El Niño and La Niña.
Founded in 1919, the American Geophysical Union is a worldwide scientific community that advances the understanding of Earth and space science.
For more, visit: http://www.agu.org/. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.


text:
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Sunday that Roman Catholic leaders must have the courage to stand up to attacks by "intolerant agnosticism" prevalent in many countries.
The pope and the Church have come under increased attack because of their opposition to homosexual marriage and women priests. The pope has repeatedly denounced what he says are attempts to push religion out of public debate.
The 85-year-old pontiff celebrated Mass on the day Christians in the West mark the Epiphany, and ordained four new archbishops including his personal secretary.
In a homily to about 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, he firmly rejected suggestions the Church should change to suit public opinion.
"Anyone who lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with the prevalent way of thinking," he said. "The approval of the prevailing wisdom, however, is not the criterion to which we submit."
In the United States, a group last month started a petition on the White House website asking the administration of President Barack Obama to list the Catholic Church as a "hate group" because of its opposition to gay marriage.
"Today's regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it employs," the pope said.
"Therefore the courage to contradict the prevailing mindset is particularly urgent for a bishop today. He must be courageous," he said.
The pope ordained the new archbishops in a ceremony attended by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, placing his hands on the heads of the four men and anointing them with holy oil to symbolise the transmission of episcopal authority.
The best known of the four new archbishops is the pontiff's chief private secretary Monsignor Georg Ganswein, who has been the closest person to Benedict since his election in 2005 as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
Last month Ganswein, 56, a German like the pope, was promoted to the job of Prefect of the Pontifical Household, a position that will significantly increase his power as the pope gets older and frailer.
As prefect, Ganswein, 56 - already one of the most recognisable and powerful figures in the papal court - will arrange all the pope's private and public audiences and his daily schedule.
And because he is expected to keep his job as chief private secretary, he will have even more power in deciding who has access to the pope.
Ganswein was the immediate superior of Paolo Gabriele, the former papal butler who was convicted of stealing sensitive papal documents and leaking them to the media.
The secretary was the person who confronted Gabriele about papers that had gone missing. Gabriele was pardoned by the pope last month after being sentenced to 18 months in jail for aggravated theft.
Because of the leaks scandal, Ganswein is expected to further tighten his control over Vatican personnel who have a direct connection to the papal apartments.
The other new archbishops are Angelo Vincenzo Zani, an Italian in the Vatican's department for Catholic education, Fortunatus Nwachukwu, a Nigerian who becomes the Vatican's ambassador to Nicaragua, and Nicolas Thevenin, a Frenchman who becomes ambassador to Guatemala. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Pravin Char)


text:
Moving away from theory and toward practice – take a look at the first fully networked Smart Factory! As an Industry 4.0 pioneer, TRUMPF opened a new technology center in Chicago in September 2017. The factory demonstrates the intelligent interaction of people, machines, automation, and software.
Carry out the Smart Factory potential check now
Are you curious about how to prepare your production for the challenges posed by the networked future? We know that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. This is why we are optimizing those process steps that hold the most networking potential for your production. You can find out how exactly this works in our Smart Factory potential check – simply use the green button to choose the process step that is of particular interest to you, pinpoint optimization potential and hear opinions from customers that are in the same position. Find out the most direct way to increase your level of networking in just two clicks. Get started now!
- Trade
- Networked production
- Smart Machine
- Smart Factory
1. Select process step
Enquiry, Offer, Job order
Production preparation and programming
Production planning and control
Manual production steps
Intralosgistic steps
2. Select potential
Clicking on the flag adds this potential to your list of interests, which can be downloaded as a summary in PDF format.
TruConnect. Your Smart Factory.
No matter whether you are already making great strides into the networked future of your company or you are just starting out – the aim is clear: to be able to deal with continuously increasing complexity and falling lot sizes in sheet metal processing. With a strong, qualified partner by your side, it is easier for you to move forward on this path. No matter whether you are a pioneer or a novice – we will support you. With our innovative TruConnect range of solutions, you can realize your Smart Factory step by step. No two paths are the same here because TruConnect combines individual components for you in order to create customized solutions.
What is Industry 4.0?
The world of work is changing toward digitization
We are in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution – the digital transformation. It is fundamentally changing our life, world of work, and even sheet metal processing. New networking solutions that provide enormous optimization potential are being created daily. They combine different components within a production facility and beyond. The factory of the future optimizes procedures for the long term and drastically shortens processes. What path will you take into the world of networked production?
The trend is toward small lot sizes
Increasing individualization is changing industry. Large lot sizes are a thing of the past. Today, variance is increasing and lot sizes are decreasing, resulting in numerous different orders with small quantities. However, the outlay for the upstream and downstream working steps remains the same in many companies. In fact, indirect processes make up around 80% of the production time. This is where the highest potential for optimization can be found. Our TruConnect range of solutions can help you to optimize indirect processes. This means that you are optimally equipped for Industry 4.0.