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News & Events
August 17, 2018
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Grove at South Creek
On Friday, August 17, Nevada Center for Biomedical Research (NVCBR) will host Cheers, its annual fundraising event to benefit treatment discovery for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) (also called ME/CFS). The event will take place from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at The Grove at South Creek. The event will feature select wine and champagne and delicious food. Guests will have plenty of opportunities to take home unique items and experiences by participating in the silent auction and fun games.
The proceeds from Cheers are crucial to making advances in ME, a debilitating disease without medical solutions. Multiple sclerosis (MS) and ME have a similar serious impact on patients, but they are miles apart when it comes to medical options. While there are 25 FDA-approved drug treatment choices for those with MS, there are none approved for ME patients. Providing support for the discovery of medical answers and sharing that information with the world are our most critical challenges.
We hope that you join NVCBR's efforts to change the world of ME by spending a fun-filled evening with our community at our annual Cheers fundraiser. Tickets are limited so buy yours today!
Silent auction bidding begins online on 07/17/2018. Visit https://www.biddingowl.com/NVCBR to browse items. In July start bidding early and bid often!
Our Generous Sponsors…
- The Whittemore Patterson Family
- Tim Tucker
- The Whittemore Group
- Glenn & Lamise Carano
- Tom & Vicki Reviglio
- Dr. Francine Mannix
- The Moss Ghusn Family
- Rich & Tiffany Williamson
- Charles "Alan" Whittemore
- Dick & Jean Rottman
- Tim & Carol Dyhr
- Paul & Sandy Goad
- Barry & Linda Rosenthal
- Shanti and Banmali Rawat
- A&H Insurance
With special thanks…
Harmonizing ME/CFS research through the use of common data elements
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently assembled an external working group of international experts and patient advocates to develop a set of ME/CFS Common Data Elements (CDEs) for use in clinical research. The ultimate goal is to standardize the collection, analysis, and comparison of data across the research community to address the problem of variability in ME/CFS research. The draft version of the ME/CFS CDEs is available for public review and comment until January 31, 2018. We encourage the ME/CFS community to take the time to review the draft CDEs and provide comments prior to the general release in February 2018. You can view the draft CDEs and more information about the project at https://commondataelements.ninds.nih.gov/MECFS.aspx#tab=Data_Standards.
November 2, 2017 • 6:00 p.m.
William N. Pennington Health Sciences Building
University of Nevada, Reno
NVCBR and Simaron Research are pleased to bring UNREST, the Sundance award-winning documentary about ME, to our community. We are hosting a screening of this noteworthy film at the William N. Pennington Health Sciences Building on the University of Nevada, Reno campus on Thursday, November 2, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. Our hope is to help our community to better understand ME, a widespread disease you can't see. View the trailer at https://www.unrest.film/trailer
About UNREST:
Twenty-eight year-old Jennifer Brea is working on her PhD at Harvard and months away from marrying the love of her life when she gets a mysterious fever that leaves her bedridden and looking for answers. Disbelieved by doctors yet determined to live, she turns her camera on herself and discovers a hidden world of millions confined to their homes and bedrooms by ME, commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome.
At its core, Unrest is a love story. Together, Jen and her new husband, Omar, must find a way to build a life and fight for a cure. Their struggle to forge their relationship while dealing with her mysterious illness is at once heartbreaking, inspiring and funny.
Unrest world-premiered January in the documentary competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize for editing. It has since screened at SxSW, CPH:DOX, HotDocs, River Run (Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature), the Nashville Film Festival (Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature), the Sheffield Doc/Fest (Illuminate Award), the New Zealand International Film Festival, and the Melbourne International Film Festival. It also has a companion VR piece which premiered at Tribeca and won the Jury Award for best VR at Sheffield/DocFest.
NVCBR focuses on Washington, DC
This past May, several Nevadans, including NVCBR board member Nancy Ghusn, Julia Abts and her daughter Kendal, and NVCBR President and CEO Annette Whittemore, traveled to Washington, DC, to join other advocates from around the country in support of increased federal research funding. The Solve CFS Initiative organized this country-wide effort and kept things running smoothly throughout the trip. We were fortunate to meet with Senator Heller in person at a time when Congress was extremely busy considering the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. We also met with Senator Cortez-Masto's and Congressman Amodei's aids in an attempt to educate them of the dire need for more research funding. While no promises were made with regards to funding, the Nevada representatives indicated that they would help with the support of congressional report language. We are pleased that Nevada's congressional members recently followed through by signing a letter in support of ME/CFS funding. It is encouraging to know that our Nevada representatives are well informed and committed to helping the millions of Americans who are impacted by ME/CFS.
NVCBR scientific pursuits aimed to advance diagnosis and treatment of ME/CFS
Last spring, the NVCBR team wrote an extensive U54 grant to advance the diagnosis and treatment of ME/CFS through a collaborative research center to study ME/CFS with an emphasis on biomarker discovery and dysregulation of the gastrointestinal mucosal immune system. Although NVCBR was not chosen as one of the three research center sites, we will continue to pursue these critical areas of research.
Like the many other researchers in this field who were not chosen by the NIH to receive grant funding, NVCBR researchers must rely heavily on private donations to keep their critical research studies moving forward. Included in NVCBR's list of promising studies are plans to create a mouse model of the disease and a gut study to determine the role of the mucosal immune system and the microbiome in ME/CFS. These studies will be integral in determining which treatments would be most effective before conducting human trials.
Significantly, past NVCBR research studies have resulted in the discovery of a unique set of antibody biomarkers that were found to identify ME/CFS patients from controls with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. This signature could lead to the development of the first clinical diagnostic blood test for ME/CFS. NVCBR's collaboration with Arizona State University researchers brought expert scientists into this field who had not been involved in this disease before our collaborative antibody study. Studies are continuing in an effort to identify the most important factors driving the antibody responses. This information will add to our understanding of the causes of disease and to better treatments.
Open dialogue between research organizations remains a possibility and a dream of those whose loved ones are still suffering from lack of effective treatments and the medical ignorance that continues to surround this disease. We know that it is really only a matter of time and will power. But time is passing quickly. It is our greatest hope that researchers around the world will agree to come together to form a world-wide alliance. If and when this occurs, we will be able to achieve our goals much more quickly and with much less cost to each organization.
August 18, 2017
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Grove at South Creek
Join Nevada Center for Biomedical Research (NVCBR) in support of scientific discovery and treat yourself to an entertaining evening at The Grove at South Creek!
Indulge in delectable food created by talented chefs at The Grove while enjoying delicious champagne and wine donated by Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits. Between tastings, browse a silent auction and listen to live music performed by The Socks, a Reno-based instrumental duo specializing in unplugged versions of great alternative rock hits, as well as their own original songs.
Your generous donation will support NVCBR's research studies focused on a spectrum of complex disabling diseases. Our current research is closing in on a diagnostic blood test for ME/CFS. These innovative studies are also providing key information about the causes of disease.
Buy your tickets in advance and save!
This year we're using mobile bidding for our auction. To bid on items, register at https://www.biddingowl.com/Auction/Bidders/register.cfm. You can bid online now at http://www.biddingowl.com/Auction/index.cfm?auctionID=11903.
Bid early and bid often in support of scientific discovery!


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Graphene multi-mode parametric oscillators
In the field of nanomechanics, parametric excitations are of interest since they can greatly enhance sensing capabilities and eliminate cross-talk. However, parametric excitations often rely on externally tuned springs, which limits their application to high quality factor resonators and usually does not allow excitation of multiple higher modes into parametric resonance. Here we demonstrate parametric amplification and resonance of suspended single-layer graphene membranes by an efficient opto-thermal drive that modulates the intrinsic spring constant. With a large amplitude of the optical drive, a record number of 14 mechanical modes can be brought into parametric resonance by modulating a single parameter: the pretension. In contrast to conventional mechanical resonators, it is shown that graphene membranes demonstrate an interesting combination of both strong nonlinear stiffness and nonlinear damping.
The history of parametric oscillations dates back to the 19th century and the observation of surface waves in the famous singing wineglass experiment of Michael Faraday Faraday (1831). The advent of micro and nano engineering brought to life new ideas for exploiting parametric excitation for enhancing force and mass sensitivity Turner et al. (1998); Rugar and Grütter (1991); Karabalin et al. (2009, 2011); Zhang and Turner (2005, 2004); Zhang et al. (2002), effective quality factor Mahboob and Yamaguchi (2008a), and signal to noise ratio Rugar and Grütter (1991) of tiny resonators. To date, many sensors, including gyroscopes Oropeza-Ramos and Turner (2005); Hu et al. (2011); Harish et al. (2008), mass sensors Zhang and Turner (2005, 2004); Zhang et al. (2002) and even mechanical memories Mahboob and Yamaguchi (2008b); Mahboob et al. (2014); Roukes (2004); Freeman and Hiebert (2008) employ parametric excitation for improved performance.
Parametric micromechanical oscillators normally rely on stiffness modulation. The mechanical stiffness of microbeams is however fully determined by their fixed Young's modulus and geometry; parametric excitation can therefore usually only be achieved by modulating the stiffness of an externally applied spring, for example a voltage controlled electrostatic spring Turner et al. (1998); Rugar and Grütter (1991); Carr et al. (2000); Rhoads et al. (2010); Mathew et al. (2016); Prasad et al. (2017). However, this method has a small modulation amplitude, limiting its application to resonators with a high quality factor. Besides, the external spring force usually cannot excite all the higher mechanical modes of a single mechanical element.
Here, we overcome these limitations by using tension modulation for parametric driving of suspended graphene membranes. Since graphene membranes have negligible bending rigidity, their stiffness is dominated by their pretension that can be efficiently modulated by heat Ye et al. (2017); Yang et al. (2017); Davidovikj et al. (2017a). The tension modulation is given by , where is the thermal expansion coefficient, the 2D Young's modulus and the temperature modulation. Using approximate values from literature Lee et al. (2008); Yoon et al. (2011), one finds that NmK, which means that a temperature modulation of 1 K already results in a tension modulation of the order of the intrinsic pretension (estimated to be between 0.003 N/m and 0.03 N/m Dolleman et al. ()) of the graphene membranes studied here. One can define the relative shift of the resonance frequency per unit of temperature as a figure of merit for the efficiency of the opto-thermal parametric drive: to 1 K. This estimated value for graphene is 500-5000 times larger than in other optically pumped oscillators Zalalutdinov et al. (2001), thus illustrating that the parametric driving scheme for graphene membranes is possibly the most efficient method for reaching parametric oscillation in mechanical systems. Another advantage of tension modulation in membranes is that all mechanical degrees of freedom can be parametrically excited, since the effective stiffness of every mechanical mode of the system is proportional to .
We demonstrate the opto-thermal tension modulation technique experimentally on single layer graphene membranes and show that as many as 14 mechanical modes can be parametrically excited. A detailed analysis of both the directly and parametrically driven response of the fundamental mode reveals that nonlinear damping is essential to describe the mechanical motion. We experimentally demonstrate parametric signal amplification in these resonators, raising the amplitude of motion and increasing the effective quality factor of resonance. Finally, by analyzing the parametric resonances, we obtain information on the dissipation mechanism and loss tangent in graphene membranes, a subject that has recently received much attention Güttinger et al. (2017); Eichler et al. (2011); Singh et al. (2016); Croy et al. (2012).
Opto-thermal parametric driving of graphene
Experiments are performed on single-layer CVD graphene drum resonators with a diameter of 5 m and a cavity depth of 300 nm. The drums have venting channels to the environment to prevent the trapping of gas in the cavity (Fig. 1a,b, see Methods section for details on the fabrication). To achieve parametric drive, we use the experimental setup shown in Fig. 1c. The light from a blue diode laser is focused on the membrane and its intensity is modulated by an input voltage . This periodically heats up the membrane and creates a parametric drive due to the thermal strain. Parametric resonance occurs if the parametric driving term exceeds a threshold , determined by the resonance frequency and quality factor of resonance Rugar and Grütter (1991). At the same time, imperfections such as initial out-of-plane deformations, wrinkles and ripples in the membrane geometry enable this laser to directly drive the resonator by thermal expansion force, because thermal expansion will enhance these deformations and thus actuate the membrane. A more detailed discussion on this mechanism can be found in the Supplementary Information S3.
A red helium-neon laser is used to read out the motion by the optical interference between the graphene membrane and the fixed substrate Bunch et al. (2007); Castellanos-Gomez et al. (2013). The ratio of the AC voltage amplitude generated by the photodetector and the AC driving voltage of the blue laser / is determined by a vector network analyzer (VNA). The VNA has the ability to perform frequency conversion measurements, hence both homodyne and heterodyne detection can be performed in this setup such that both direct and parametric resonances can be analyzed.
Graphene multi-mode parametric oscillators
In Fig. 2a, the blue laser is driven at 2, while detecting the photodiode signal at . When increasing the blue laser driving voltage a remarkable effect is observed. One-by-one, the parametric resonances of graphene appear, up to 7 different modes. Each mode reaches resonance at a different threshold driving amplitude , due to differences in quality factor and the frequency dependence of the parametric driving parameter Dolleman et al. (). The experiment is repeated on a different drum in Fig. 2b. Interestingly, in this case overlap between parametric resonances is observed at high driving levels. When overlap occurs, a direct transition between the high-amplitude solution of two adjacent parametric resonances is observed, e.g. at mV (RMS) between the second and third resonance. Interestingly, in some cases also transitions between the high-amplitude and low-amplitude solutions are observed, e.g. at mV (RMS) between the same 2 modes. This pseudorandom process is attributed to a strong dependence of the basin of attractions of the parametric high-amplitude and low-amplitude solutions on the initial conditions Sanchez and Nayfeh (1990). Hence, the amplitude can fall into two stable solutions: either the high amplitude solution of the third mode or the zero amplitude solution of the third mode which is also observed at higher driving amplitudes ( and mV (RMS)).
Due to the overlap of parametric resonances in this drum, some resonances are skipped and not all resonances are found by sweeping from low to high frequency. Instead, when sweeping the frequency backward as shown in Fig. 2c, as many as 14 parametric resonances are observed in this system. To our knowledge, this is the largest number of parametrically excited modes in a single mechanical element, as previously only 7 modes could be excited in cryogenic environments Mahboob et al. (2014).
Mechanical nonlinearities in graphene resonators
For a more detailed analysis of the physics, we focus on the frequency response of the fundamental mode to both direct and parametric drives. Figure 3 shows direct and parametric resonance of the fundamental mode as function of driving level, on a different drum than Fig. 2. The VNA is configured to detect the directly driven frequency response (Fig. 3a,c). Sweeping the frequency forward (Fig. 3a) and backward (Fig. 3b) results in a hysteresis, that grows as the driving level is increased. This is typical for the geometric nonlinearity of the Duffing-type resonator, where the stiffness becomes larger at high amplitudes. In order to detect the parametric resonance, the VNA was configured in a heterodyne scheme at which is detected at half of the driving frequency . Similar to the directly driven case, a hysteresis occurs between the forward (Fig. 3b) and backward (Fig. 3d) sweeps in frequency. Below an RMS drive amplitude of 0.11 mV, no response is observed. To show that the parametric resonance shows two stable phases of resonance separated by 180 degrees Mahboob and Yamaguchi (2008b), we performed an additional measurement which is shown in the Supplementary Information S2.
Figure 4a-d shows both directly and parametrically driven responses at different driving levels. In order to eludicate the effect of nonlinearities on the observed mechanical responses, a single degree-of-freedom model is derived that describes the motion of the resonator (see Supplementary Information S4) and this is fitted to the response curves in Fig. 4a-d (see Supplementary Information S5). The model is a combination of the Duffing, van der Pol and Matthieu-Hill equation also used in other works Eichler et al. (2011); Houri et al. (2017); Lifshitz and Cross (2008); Aubin et al. (2004):
where is the displacement (which is approximately proportional to ), is the damping coefficient, the nonlinear damping coefficient, the linear stiffness coefficient, the nonlinear stiffness coefficient, the parametric driving and the direct driving term. By setting and one can fit the response at low drive level (Fig. 4a) and obtain an initial value for , and . Initially fitting at high driving levels was attempted by setting , however it is found that such a model cannot account for the observed parametric response: nonlinear damping is indispensable to describe the maximum amplitude. Next, , and are used as fitting parameters to describe the nonlinear response (Fig. 4a-d). Numerical values for the fit parameters are provided in the Supplementary information S1.
Figure 4 compares the fitted model and the experimental data for the directly- and parametrically driven fundamental resonance. This shows excellent agreement at lower driving levels (Fig. 4a). We note that the fitting parameters , , and are the same in the direct and parametric response within the error of the fitting procedure (see Supplementary information S1) and that both and are very nearly proportional to driving voltage . It is however observed that the region of instability (Figs. 4e, f) is narrower in our experiments than what is expected from eq. 1.
Parametric signal amplification in graphene
Now we investigate the effects of parametric drive at low driving levels () by examining parametric amplification of the directly driven resonance. To measure parametric amplification, it is required to simultaneously drive the system at and (where is near the resonance frequency ). This is realized by splitting the driving circuit connected to the diode laser into two parts (Fig. 1c). One path provides a small direct drive that excites the primary resonance of the membrane in the linear regime. The second path contains a frequency doubler, amplifier and phase shifter to enable parametric driving with controllable phase and gain with respect to the direct drive. A harmonic oscillator model is fitted to the response to extract the amplitude and the effective quality factor. The relation between amplitude gain , parametric drive amplitude and phase shift of the direct drive is given by Mahboob and Yamaguchi (2008a); Rugar and Grütter (1991):
First, the amplification effect as function of parametric pumping amplitude in Fig. 5a was examined by keeping the phase fixed at -45 degrees. Increasing the amplitude of parametric drive increases the amplitude at resonance by a factor of 3-4 (Fig. 5b) and the effective quality factor of resonance by almost a factor of 3 (Fig. 5c). Figure 5d shows that shifting the phase of the parametric drive significantly changes the amplitude of harmonic resonance. Figure 5e-f shows that the gain and effective Q-factor depend strongly on the phase of the parametric drive with respect to the direct drive. Fits of the data in Fig. 5b, e show that the drive and phase-dependence of the parametric amplification is in accordance with theory.
We have shown opto-thermal tension modulation as a mechanism to achieve large parametric excitations in graphene. The large parametric excitation enables low- modes to be brought into parametric resonance. This allows parametric resonance study at room temperature (where graphene's -factor is a factor 100 lower than in the cryogenic regime Chen et al. (2013); Zande et al. (2010)), and also allows higher order modes (with lower Q) to be brought into parametric resonance. These beneficial conditions enable us to realize the graphene multi-mode parametric oscillators as shown in Fig. 2. Due to their small mass and low spring constant, graphene membranes are very force sensitive. Here we demonstrate parametric amplification of graphene, which can further push graphene's limits of force sensitivity, since it enhances both the gain and effective quality factor of the resonators.
The asymmetry around observed in the region of instability (Fig 4) is a surprising result: such an asymmetry should not arise for the equation of motion (Eq. 1) used in the analysis. Something similar is observed in the directly driven response, where the lower saddle node bifurcation in the downward frequency sweep is always found at a lower frequency than simulated (Fig. 4c) at high driving levels. Possibly, this indicates that the forcing terms are nonlinear Rhoads et al. (2006). However, we find that both forcing terms and extracted from the fits are linear with the applied modulation amplitude and the forward frequency sweeps are well-described by this model (see Supplementary Information S1). The observed deviations (e.g. in Fig. 4) can therefore not be explained by forcing nonlinearities.
The asymmetry and apparent decrease in resonance linewidth (Fig. 4) thus suggest that a more unconventional dissipation model should be considered, including further terms to describe the amplitude-dependence of the dissipation. Similar deviations from conventional dissipation models have been previously found in multi-layered graphene resonators Singh et al. (2016), where it was concluded that the van-der-Pol term does not describe the nonlinear damping. Here we conclude that the van-der-Pol term is generally in agreement with the experiments, since it describes the saddle node bifurcation of the parametric resonances well, however additional dissipation terms might be needed to account for the asymmetry and narrowing of the parametric stability region (Fig. 4e,f).
The fit to the nonlinear response of the membrane allows us to extract a number for the Duffing () and van-der-Pol terms () in our resonators. As shown in the Supplementary information S6, the mechanical loss tangent of graphene at the resonance frequency can be determined from the ratio of these terms, . From the values of the fits we obtain for drum 2 and for drum 3. The values of these loss tangents are in the same range as found by Jinkins et al.Jinkins et al. (2015). The obtained values for the loss tangent are relatively high for a crystalline material as graphene, therefore the observed nonlinear damping is likely not due to the intrinsic material properties but to other effects, such as sidewall adhesion Bunch and Dunn (2012) or unzipping of wrinkles Ruiz-Vargas et al. (2011).
Multi-mode parametric oscillators are interesting for applications where accurate frequency tracking of multiple modes is necessary. All of these modes can be parametrically amplified up to relatively high amplitudes. This is difficult to achieve with conventional oscillators that require a feedback loop and special filters or actuation schemes to make sure only the desired resonance is brought into oscillation. A possible application is inertial imaging Hanay et al. (2015), where accurate tracking of multiple resonances allows one to determine the mass, location and shape of a particle on top of a resonator. In addition, these parametric oscillators can be used to build a binary information and computation system Mahboob et al. (2014), where information is stored in the phase of the resonator. Multi-mode resonators have the potential of enabling parallel processing and data storage. The high resonance frequencies and relatively low Q of the graphene membranes can increase computation speed. Moreover, since the driving frequency is double the readout frequency, parametric driving is less sensitive to cross-talk that is often present in directly driven resonators Turner et al. (1998) which can improve sensor performance.
In conclusion, we report on multi-mode parametric resonance and amplification in single layer graphene resonators by an opto-thermal tension modulation technique. It is demonstrated that the tension-dominated restoring force results in parametric excitation of multiple resonance modes in the system when the system is opto-thermally driven. The parametrically and directly driven resonances are compared to a single degree-of-freedom model based on the Duffing, van der Pol and Matthieu equations, with good agreement at low driving levels. This allows simultaneous determination of nonlinear stiffness and damping coefficients and results in a high-frequency determination of graphene's mechanical loss tangent. It was demonstrated that weak parametric drives can be used to amplify the motion and enhance the effective quality factor of resonance, that can potentially enhance the force sensitivity of graphene resonators. Graphene resonators are thus an interesting platform to study parametric excitations and their utilization for sensors with improved performance.
Acknowledgements.We gratefully acknowledge Applied Nanolayers B.V. for the growth and transfer of the single layer graphene used in this study. We thank Y.M. Blanter, B.J. Gallacher, W.J. Venstra and S.W. Shaw for useful discussions and D. Davidovikj for help with scanning electron microscopy. This work is part of the research programme Integrated Graphene Pressure Sensors (IGPS) with project number 13307 which is financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The research leading to these results also received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 649953 Graphene Flagship.
Graphene resonators are fabricated by etching dumbbell-shaped cavities in a thermally grown, 285 nm SiO layer on a silicon wafer. The etching did not fully stop at the silicon layer, resulting in cavities that are 300 nm thick. Circular membranes are formed by transfer of single layer chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene (Fig. 1a). During the transfer process one side of the dumbbell is broken while the other side remains intact, creating a circular resonator on one side with a venting channel to the environment (Fig. 1b). This prevents gas from being trapped in the cavity when the pressure in the surroundings changes. In the main section of this work four identical drums with a diameter of 5 micrometer are used; results obtained on drum 1 are shown in Figs. 2a, 3 and 4f, drum 2 in Figs. 2b,c, drum 3 in Figs. 4a-e and drum 4 in Fig. 5. A fifth drum was used in the Supplementary Information S2. More details on the fabrication and transfer process of the drum resonators can be found in ref. Dolleman et al. ().
All measurements are performed at room temperature in a high vacuum environment with a pressure less than mbar to minimize the effects of gas damping. The blue diode laser (Thorlabs LP405-SP10) has a wavelength of 405 nm and is biased with a 32 mA current, resulting in 0.76 mW of incident power measured before the objective. The red laser illuminates the sample with 1.2 mW of incident power (measured before the objective lens). The vector network analyzer is of type Rohde & Schwarz ZNB4 with the frequency conversion option (k4) installed.
Author contributions
R.J.D., S.H., F.A., A.C. and P.G.S. analyzed and interpreted the measurements. R.J.D. and S.H. performed the experiments. F.A., A.C. and P.G.S. derived the equation of motion and fits in Fig. 4. H.S.J.v.d.Z. and P.G.S. supervised the project. The manuscript was jointly written by all authors with a main contribution from R.J.D.
Supplementary Information: Graphene multi-mode parametric oscillators
In section S1, we show the complete dataset obtained while analyzing the nonlinearities of the graphene membrane. Section S2 shows an additional experiment that demonstrates the parametric oscillator has two stable phases. In section S3, an additional discussion is added that proposes why both direct and parametric excitations are observed in the same setup. Section S4 derives the equations of motion that has been used to perform the fitting and section S5 describes the numerical simulations used for the fitting procedure. Finally in section S6 the expression for the mechanical loss tangent of graphene is derived.
S1: Complete datasets for the analysis of mechanical nonlinearities
Figure 4 in the main text shows the fitting of the nonlinear mechanical response of the resonator (drum 3). In this section the remainder of this analysis is presented and the complete dataset from the fundamental mode of drum 1 is shown (Figs. 2a, 3, 4f in the main text).
|Direct drive
|Parametric drive
|RMS Drive (mV)
.1 Dataset of drum 1
|Direct drive
|Parametric drive
|RMS Drive (mV)
S2: Additional experiment showing two stable phases
The frequency conversion option on the vector network analyzer loses information on the phase at which the resonator is oscillating. To show that the parametrically excited resonance has two stable phases separated by 180 degrees, the experiment was repeated by using the frequency doubler in the circuit used for the parametric amplification experiment (Fig. 1(c) in the main text). Using this, the VNA does not require to perform a frequency conversion and phase information is preserved. This results in the mechanical responses shown in Fig. S4.
S3: Additional discussion: mechanism for direct and parametric driving
Opto-thermal driving leads to two mechanisms that can excite the resonance in the graphene resonators. Parametric drive (Fig. S5a) occurs due to the modulation of pretension in the membrane via laser heating and thermal expansion, since the stiffness term for the out-of-plane deflection field of the membrane determined by the pre-tension. Parametric driving will only activate the parametric resonance if the modulation of the blue laser is near twice the mechanical resonance frequency.
As demonstrated in the main text (Figs. 3, 4), the experiments also show a direct driving component. This can be explained Aubin et al. (2004) by assuming a small initial membrane displacement from equilibrium (Fig. S5b). In graphene resonators rippling, wall adhesion or out-of-plane crumples could lie at the root of such an initial displacement.
In order to analyze the data, we will derive the equations of motion (Eq. S10) using a Lagrangian approach by including this initial deflection field. In this manner, the equations are reduced to a single-degree-of-freedom model that can be used to fit to the data, significantly simplifying the analysis. The derivation of this single degree of freedom model is shown below in section S4.
S4: Equations of motion
A Lagrangian approach is used for obtaining equations of motion of an optothermally excited monolayer graphene membrane. In this respect, the potential energy of the thermally actuated circular membrane is obtained as Amabili (2008):
where is the thickness, is the radius, is the thermal expansion coefficient, and is the temperature change in the membrane. Moreover, , , , are the Kirchhoff stresses that can be obtained as follows:
in which , , and are the Green strains and are derived as:
where , and are the radial, tangential and transverse displacements, respectively. Moreover, is the deviation of the membrane from flat configuration, is the Young's modulus and is the Poisson's ratio.
The temperature difference can be obtained by solving the following heat conduction equation:
in which is the power absorbed by the membrane, is the thermal time constant Dolleman et al. (), is the thermal capacitance, and represents the time variable.
For a membrane with fixed edges and shall vanish at . Moreover, should be zero at for continuity and symmetry. Furthermore, assuming only axisymmetric vibrations ( and ), the solution can be approximated as Davidovikj et al. (2017b):
Here it should be noted that for axisymmetric vibrations the shear strain would become zero. In equation (S5), is the generalized coordinate associated with the fundamental mode of vibration. Furthermore, in equation (S6), 's are the generalized coordinates associated with the radial motion. Moreover, is the zeroth order Bessel function of the first kind and . In addition, is the number of necessary terms in the expansion of radial displacement and is the initial displacement due to pre-tension that is obtained from the initial stress as follows :
The kinetic energy of the membrane neglecting in-plane inertia, is given by:
The Lagrange equations of motion are given by:
and q=[,( )], is the vector containing all the generalized coordinates. Equation (S9) leads to a system of nonlinear equations comprising of a single differential equation associated with the generalized coordinate and algebraic equations in terms of () . By solving the algebraic equations it is possible to determine in terms of Davidovikj et al. (2017b). This will reduce the +1 set of nonlinear equations to the following Duffing-Matthieu-Hill equation:
where represents derivative with respect to time and is the mass. and are the linear viscous damping coefficient and nonlinear material damping coefficient, respectively Zaitsev et al. (2012); Lifshitz and Cross (2008). They are added to the equation of motion explicitly to introduce dissipation. represents the linear stiffness term dominated by the pre-tension and is the amplitude of parametric drive resulting from temperature variation . Moreover, represents the quadratic non-linear stiffness coefficient due to imperfection and denotes the cubic non-linear stiffness coefficient arising from geometric nonlinearity. Finally, is the amplitude of direct drive term due to the presence of imperfection , and is the excitation frequency. Indeed for a flat membrane, .
S5: Numerical simulations
In order to perform the numerical simulations, equation (S10) is normalized with respect to the mass of the membrane and the fundamental frequency () as follows:
Introducing an effective stiffness nonlinearity , whose value is given by =) Nayfeh and Mook (1995), equation (S11) is reduced to:
where the normalized coefficients are given in table 3.
|Normalized parameter
|Scaled time derivative
|Non-dimensional excitation frequency
|Scaled linear damping coefficient
|Scaled nonlinear damping coefficient
|Scaled linear stiffness coefficient
|Scaled parametric excitation amplitude
|Scaled nonlinear quadratic stiffness coefficient
|Scaled nonlinear cubic stiffness coefficient
|Scaled effective nonlinear stiffness coefficient
|Scaled direct excitation amplitude
Here it should be noted that, mass of the single layer graphene membrane is unknown. Without the exact mass value, optical transduction factors present between the voltage signal measured by the VNA during the experiment and the actual motion of the membrane in physical units cannot be calibrated. Thus, the normalized coefficients shown in table 3 include a linear transduction factor '' for the oscillation amplitude (), for the parametric drive amplitude () and for the direct drive amplitude (). Where and are voltage signals measured in the experiment.
Finally, the equation (S12) is simulated using a pseudo arc length continuation and collocation technique Doedel et al. (1998) to detect bifurcations and obtain periodic solutions. The simulations are performed as follows:
The bifurcation analysis is carried out with the coefficient as the first continuation parameter and is incremented to the desired value in order to match the experimental direct response.
Once the desired value of is obtained, the parametric drive amplitude is used as the second continuation parameter and a value is chosen to replicate the experimental parametric response.
After reaching the desired value, the analysis is continued with the frequency ratio as the final continuation parameter. This value is spanned around the spectral neighborhood of and in order to obtain the direct and parametric response curves.
S6: Mechanical loss tangent of graphene
In ref. Davidovikj et al. (2017b) it is shown that the Duffing term is proportional to the Young's modulus :
where is a constant. In case of material damping, a complex Young's modulus can be introduced: and the nonlinear stifness term near the resonance frequency , for becomes:
From this equation it can be seen that the loss tangent Lakes (2009) can be calculated by the ratio if the resonator is vibrating near its resonance frequency:
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subset: commoncrawl


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A tangle of hair-brained schemes!
Brace yourselves for a constant eruption of giggles as some of NZ Opera's talented young singers bring The Barber of Seville to life through song and dance! Sung in English and featuring five singers and a pianist, this is entertainment the whole family can enjoy.
Workshop: Get a chance to learn and perform in a sing-a-long with NZ Opera - no singing experience necessary!
About the company:
New Zealand Opera is the face of professional opera in Aotearoa. Our goal is to bring human stories, glorious music and the passion of opera to all.
Performances start at 10am, followed by a workshop at 11am.
Auckland Live Pick & Mix events are free, however bookings are essential.


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Kenya National Archives and Documentation Services (KNADS) is situated at the edge of the central business district in downtown Nairobi along Moi Avenue next to Ambassadeur Hotel. The archives look out on the landmark Hilton Hotel, while on the rear side is Tom Mboya street. It was established in 1965. It holds 40,000 volumes. It was established by an Act of the Parliament of Kenya in 1965 and was placed under the office of the Vice President and the Minister of Home Affairs. It is currently under the office of the Vice-President and Ministry of State for National Heritage and Culture. The Kenya National Archives building also houses the Murumbi Gallery which contains African artifacts that were collected in the 19th century.
More information on the Wikipedia page [1]; some further information here [2].
The website is here [http://www.archives.go.ke/


text: Do you have the preflight jitters? No worries Cassie is here to help; she will give you a tour of the terminal, help you store your carry on and personal items and show you all the safety tips and emergency exits. You will be ready fly with the best in no time.


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Introduction: Fun()nion Bag (One Hour Project) Full Instructions
Here is a fun()nion bag. It is made from fine quality plastic onion bags and has been lined with print and solid fabric. The handles are printed cloth lined with fashionable grocery bags. This exquisite bag has many uses. Fill it with some lovely paper, a ribbon, and add a gift. The receiver will be delighted and amazed at your creativity. The size is perfect for a lunch sack. This bag is just what you need for small crafting projects you can work on away from home. A fabulous shopping bag.
Step 1: Supplies
Bag fabric 18x 11 1/2 (depending on the size of your onion bag) Pre-washed
Lining pre-washed 18x 11 1/2
Matching thread
3 regular size plastic grocery bags
1 onion bag
Sewing machine ( Can be hand sewn or glued.)
Pen and straight edge for marking pattern.
Tape measure
Sewing pins
The onion bag will be the pattern to go by.
Step 2: Fabric Layout and Cutting
Cut off excess plastic from onion bag as shown.
Fold the printed fabric in half and press. (This fabric will become the part of the bag that shows through the onion bag. I will refer to this as the printed fabric for now on.)
Not shown: Lay the onion bag over the fold of the printed fabric and cut the printed fabric the same size of the onion bag.
Next Lay the onion bag over the lining fabric on the fold as shown. Mark a line on both sides (the size of the onion bag.)
This will allow a 1/2 inch seam allowance on each side of the bag. My onion bag has a 1/2 inch seam allowance, that is why I cut the fabric the exact size of the onion bag and will sew the side seams at 1/2 inch so it will fit inside the onion bag perfectly.
I added 2 1/4 inches at the top to allow for turning under a 1/4 inch hem and turned over again this time over the onion bag pinning it in.
Cut the lining out remembering to add 2 1/4 inches extra at the top.
Step 3: Sew Side Seams
Sew the side seams of both the printed fabric and the lining.
Trim loose threads.
Press the seams open.
Press a 1/4 inch hem at the top of the lining bag toward the wrong side of the lining bag.
Turn the printed fabric right side out and press well.
Place the lining inside the printed fabric bag matching the seams.
Step 4: Place the Printed Bag Inside the Onion Bag
Place the Printed bag inside the onion bag.
Fold the lining down covering the raw edge of the onion bag.
Pin into place.
Sew all around the top of the bags overlapping your beginning stitch.
Step 5: Handles
Put three bags together and tie a flat knot. Place them under a heavy object as shown in picture and make a tight braid all the way down. Tie a flat knot at the end.
Step 6: Cut Out Handle
The braided bags will become the stiffener inside the handle for support.
Cut out a piece of the printed fabric 17 inches long and 2 inches wide.
Fold it in half lengthwise with right sides together and press.
Place one end of the braided bags at one end of the purse handle (placing it close to the handle's folded edge,) and and stitch as shown in the picture.
Then sew the open edge as close as you can to the handle support, leaving the end open for turning it right side out.
Turn the handle right side out.
Turn the end under forming a nice finished edge.
Step 7: Sew the Handle Into Place
Next pin the handles to each side of the side seam, (pin it on the back side of the seam.)
This will give you a little more room to open the bag.
Sew securely.
Step 8: Finished!
Here is a picture of the finished bag.
Step 9: Sunshiine's Final Thoughts
I have enjoyed making this bag. I am thrilled to be able to make things as pretty as this with plastic bags and fabric that I already have. They make very nice gift bags instead of buying them at the store. I have had many compliments on this bag. In fact I am making different variations and will share them here on this fabulous website.
Thank you for visiting and please, do stop in again soon!
Be the First to Share
11 Discussions
Amazing bag!!
It is so pretty and so functional! It is one of my favorite bags! Thanks for commenting and take care of those babies! They did get stockings hung right?
They all have stockings with LOTS of new toys -- too many for their stockings ;)
Have a very Merry Christmas <3
We will have a snowy Merry Christmas, hope you do too if you want it. Give treatises from Sunshiine! Merry Christmas<3
Unfortunately, we won't be getting any snow for Christmas this year, it's just been too warm (around 50F) ;0(
I am sorry you will miss a white Christmas. I prefer no snow actually but because we have been in a drought I am very happy about it. Sunshiine
Love it!
Nice bag and a good recycle use for onion bags. You are so creative, my dear sister :)
Thanks! I learned from the best!


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The French ambassador looked like an easy target, but 100 operatives were called on to get him laid, and get him recruited.">
Eh bien, Dejean, on couche.
With that contemptuous locution, which one might translate very roughly as, Well, De Jean, one gets laid, with perhaps the added thought that having made ones bed, one must lie in it, Charles De Gaulle dismissed his old friend Maurice Dejean from diplomatic service to the Fifth Republic.
It was 1964, six years after the KGB had staged one of its long-running and most elaborate honey traps in Moscow against a Western diplomat. The operation involved over 100 officers and agents of the KGB including, incognito, the head of the Second Chief Directorate, the branch responsible for domestic surveillance and the monitoring or recruitment of foreigners inside the Soviet Union.
Celebrated Russian writers, actresses, painters, and intellectuals, and not a few prostitutes were conscripted for this mission of interlocking plots and subplots, featuring Dejeans wife and the wives of others. Even Premier Nikita Khrushchev played a role in snaring the high-value mark he himself ordered snared. It was a mission of entrapment that repeatedly risked coming undone and likely would have but for the cosmic surety of French womanizing.
Dejean had served faithfully with De Gaulle in the resistance during World War II, first in Morocco and then London. Although the two had quarreled in the Free French administration after the Allied liberation of Paris, Dejean went on to become political director at the Quai dOrsay, the French foreign ministry.
From there, his career was largely a series of botched attempts to extricate postwar France from various folds in the Iron Curtain, a somewhat quixotic search for a third way between the democratic West and the totalitarian East.
Dejean served as ambassador to Prague and worked assiduously to restore Franco-Czech relations until the 1948 communist coup, which Dejean blamed (rightly) on the Soviets. He headed the French mission in Tokyo in 1950; then he was dispatched to Saigon where he watched the siege of Dien Ben Phu and its fall to communist insurgents in 1954: prelude to an engulfing conflict that would eventually lure the United States into its first disastrous war of choice.
Perhaps it was fitting, then, that Dejeans next posting would also be his last, in Moscow, a year later. He was 56, eager to establish cultural ties and, as the haughty De Gaulle put it, not above sleeping around.
In the age of email hacking and cyber insecurity, it is easy to forget the more cunning, intimate, and human side of tradecraft, which is why over the last several months Ive been taking slow, deep sips fromKGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents, a book published in 1974, at a time when we knew far less than we do now about how the Cold War was being fought in the shadows and street corners and embassies of the world.
The author, John Barron, a Readers Digest journalist (and not the spokesman Donald Trump used to conjure out of thin air) , spent years accumulating first-hand accounts from Soviet defectors about the nature and style of the special services invigilation of the citizenry and of usually unsuspecting foreign visitors to the USSR, or foreign marks abroad.
Barron, who was himself a spook in the 1950s, was so accomplished by the end of his spadework that he frequently testified for the FBI in prominent espionage cases, explaining the patterns of Soviet surveillance and spy-running. The Dejean operation is in many ways the summa of KGB and the subject matter therein.
It all began in 1956, the year of the Hungarian Revolution, at the Moskva Hotel, with KGB Col. Leonid Kunavin instructing one of his subordinates, the dramatist Yuri Krotkov, that Dejean was the target for recruitment, given his closeness to De Gaulle and the likelihood that the latter was on his way to ruling France. The order comes from the very top, Kunavin said. Nikita Sergeyevich [Khrushchev] himself wants him caught.
The use of Krotkov as the seconded scalp-hunter was as clever as it was customary, given his bona fides in the artistic milieu of Soviet Moscow. Born in Tbilisi, he was the son of a famous Georgian painter who once did a portrait of Lavrenty Beria that Stalins last-appointed security chief so admired, he had copies made and hung around the security services Lubyanka headquartersuntil, of course, Beria was purged by Khrushchev following Stalins death.
Even so, paternal accomplishment and connections afforded Krotkov the necessary state protections, as a writer, to advance quickly through the ranks of the nomenklatura. He relied on his friends in the NKVD, as Berias spy service was then known, to evict squatters who had taken over his former room in Moscow, prior to the Nazi siege, which had forced him to flee. Krotkov then worked for TASS and Radio Moscow. He became an agent of the KGB in 1946, at the age of 28.
Heres Barron:
As a writer, intellectual, and friend of the Boris Pasternak [author of Dr. Zhivago] family, Krotkov was welcomed by foreigners in Moscow. This tall, slender man, with a handsome shock of dark brown hair and an intense, expressive face, could talk suavely in English or Russian about the arts, history, and prominent Soviet personalities. Soon he learned to exploit the hunger of visitors for communication with the Soviet people. All the while, Krotkov was instructed to look for attractive girls whom the KGB could use to tempt foreigners into trouble. He picked them primarily from among actresses he met while writing film scenarios. The KGB offered them various inducementsthe promise of better roles, money, clothes, a measure of liberty and gaiety absent from normal Soviet life.
The girls were called swallows and they flew solo or in formation, depending upon the needs of Krotkov and his masters in the special services. Quarters were provided to them for assignations with their foreign marksthese were swallows nestswhich consisted of two adjoining rooms; one for the tryst and one for the KGBs audio-visual squad to record everything for the inevitable blackmail and Faustian offer.
Upon their arrival in Moscow, in December 1955, Dejean and his wife Marie-Claire had already been put under extensive surveillance. Their apartment at the French embassy was bugged. Their chauffeur was a KGB informant. They didnt go anywhere or see anyone without the KGBs knowledge, in accordance with Second Chief Directorate policy.
We know everything about him there is to know, Col. Kunavin told Krotkov during their meeting at the Moskva Hotel. A day later, the colonel told Krotkov his role would be to get to know Marie-Claire. You must gain control of her; make her ours. You must get her in bed.
Nor were the Dejeans the only mark. The Soviets also wanted to recruit an assistant air attach at the French embassy, Col. Louis Guibaud, who was also married and whose wife Ginette would also have to play a sexual part in Krotkovs little cinema vrit production. Moscows Frank Sinatra at the time, the actor and singer Misha Orlov, would be the one to seduce Madame Guibaud.
Read more: www.thedailybeast.com


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Everything You Need To Know About Matobo National Park
Matobo national Park is located around 34kms to the South of the city of Bulawayo. This green park was established in 1926 and is also the oldest national park in Zimbabwe.
Matobo National Park teems with diverse plant, bird and animal species. It has over 200 tree species including mountain acacia, wild pear, paper bark tree and fig tree. The park also has many aloes, wild herbs and over 100 grass species.
Matobo National Park is an enthralling gallery of balancing rocks which formed over 3 billion years of erosion. Truly, this landscape is unique in the remarkable range of African scenery and experiences it provides.
Did you also know?
Matobo National Park has the world's highest concentration of the Black eagle. AND leopards too. The dense population of leopards is because of the abundant dassies which, reportedly, make up 50 per cent of their diet.
Other bird species that can be found at the Park include the fish eagle, martial eagle, francolin, secretary bird, weavers, pied crow and Egyptian geese.
In addition, it is one of the last sanctuaries for the Black and White Rhino. In Southern Africa!
If you visit the reserve, and we hope you will, you are more likely to see White Rhino than Black Rhino. The reason? White Rhino is more social and can be found grazing in open areas. However, the Black Rhino is more private and spends its time browsing twigs in thick vegetation.
By the way, do you know how to tell the two species apart? If you need help identifying the differences, read our blog on those differences here.
Besides the Rhino, other animals you can expect to see at Matobo National Park include giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich and sometimes, leopard.
Matobo National Park in the International Spotlight
This Rhino sanctuary is a World Heritage Site. UNESCO bestowed this title upon it in 2003. This is due to the its cultural, aesthetic, and historical significance.
Matobo National Park shares this significant title with –
- The mighty Victoria Falls – one of the seven natural wonders of the world,
- Khami Ruins – the second largest stone monument in the nation,
- The arresting Mana Pools – a picturesque setting for avid photographers and
- Great Zimbabwe, also listed in the 2016 World Monuments Watch List.
Matobo National Park is also listed in the 2018 World Monuments Watch List.
This list contains 25 sites in over 30 territories and it highlights "their challenges, opportunities, and the communities that cherish them".
The World Monuments Watch List is a call to action meant to preserve these sites.
Matobo National Park is also one of the eight sites on that List selected to receive a grant by the World Monuments Fund. These funds will be directed towards efforts to preserve the landscape.
You might be wondering,
Where Does the Name "Matobo" National Park Come From?
History has it that the Karanga people referred to the Matobo region as "madombo" meaning stones.
The distinct appearance of the rolling Matobo hills was the reason behind the area's name.
The founder and leader of the Ndebele nation, King Mzilikazi, is said to have named the balancing rocks "matobo", a Ndebele term meaning "bald heads".
More Fun Facts on Matobo National Park
Matobo National Park is a recreational park. This means travelers are free to walk around and explore the scenic reserve.
The park is rich in historical and cultural aspects. Thus, it is an excellent spot for educational trips for schools, colleges and universities.
For thousands of years, Matobo National Park was home to the artistic San or Bushmen people. Caves in which they sought shelter bear evidence of the way of living of these hunter-gatherers.
These caves, such as Silozwane and Nswatugi, contain some of the world's most remarkable rock paintings.
Matobo Hills – a Sacred Landscape
Unsurprisingly, Matobo National Park has long been regarded as a place of great spiritual importance. Some of the largest granite domes are sacred mountains.
It has long been held that they must not be pointed at for fear of causing disrespect to the spirits that occupy them.
Before the beginning of each rainy season and in times of drought, people from throughout Zimbabwe and beyond come to the Matobo shrines to pray for rain.
Indeed, there is so much about this sacred park that unsurprisingly, draws many – near and far – to it.
For more information on Matobo National Park, click here –


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starting points and help for the
JUNe '19 Exam
Starting points
Assessment objectives
A01 - Developing ideas through investigation, demonstrating critical understanding of sources
A02 - Refining work by exploring ideas, selecting and experimenting with appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes
A03 - Recording ideas, observations and insights relevant to your intentions as work progresses
A04 - Presenting a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and demonstrates understanding of visual language
A02 - Refining work by exploring ideas, selecting and experimenting with appropriate media, materials, techniques and processes
A03 - Recording ideas, observations and insights relevant to your intentions as work progresses
A04 - Presenting a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and demonstrates understanding of visual language
pinterest boards
Many artists, craftspeople and designers are inspired by texture. Frank Auerbach makes textured portraits and landscapes using layers of paint. The Campana Brothers design tactile furniture from recycled materials. Bernhard Edmaier photographs the textures of the earth and ceramicist Ewen Henderson crafted textured vessels that reflected his interest in rock forms. Deidre Adams uses stitch and mixed media to create textures inspired by weathered and aged surfaces, and craftsperson Matt Tommey makes baskets and sculptures based on the textures seen in nature.
Investigate appropriate sources and create your own work in response to Texture.
Explore textures in art from woven textures and textured fabrics and materials to gestural marks and patterns
Many artists, craftspeople and designers work in an abstract manner. Frank Gehry's architectural designs are inspired by the abstract shapes in Cubist paintings. John Hoyland made colourful abstract paintings and designer Michelle House creates abstract printed textiles. Henry Holmes Smith's experimental photographs explore colour and light. Paul Rand made corporate logo designs inspired by Modernism, in particular the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky. Alison Britton makes abstract ceramic vessels.
Research appropriate sources and create your own work based on Abstract.
Artists, craftspeople and designers frequently convey messages through their work. The Peace Pole project is organised by communities to send an international message for world peace. Traditional and digital billboards advertise products and communicate messages. Teesha Moore shares messages through illustrations that combine text and image, and Tom Phillips uses text in many of his artworks to convey an idea. Derick Melander makes textile installations from second hand clothing to present a message about consumerism and Shimon Attie uses new media to relay messages about international history. Investigate appropriate sources and produce your own work based on:
(a) a site-specific installation or billboard to convey a message of your choice
(b) your own response to Messages.
The Elements
The elements of nature and the formal elements of art and design frequently feature in the work of artists, craftspeople and designers. Claude Monet was inspired by the seasonal elements of weather in his series of 'Haystacks' paintings. The elements of nature have inspired the craftwork of Helen Gwinn and the land art of Andy Goldsworthy. Iris van Herpen designs garments that combine the formal elements of shape, line, pattern and texture. Julian Schulze's photographs and Cecil Touchon's graphic designs are inspired by the formal elements of colour and composition. Investigate appropriate sources and produce your own work based on:
(a) the elements of nature
(b) your own interpretation of the formal elements of art, craft and design.
The act of working, the way something works and different working processes have interested many artists, craftspeople and designers. The shipbuilding paintings of Stanley Spencer and Frank Brangwyn's studies of industrial scenes illustrate hard manual work. J.C. Burrows' photographs of Cornish mine workers capture the working conditions of nineteenth century tin mining. Jean Tinguely created fantastic working machine sculptures and puppet makers Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler design working models of figures and animals for film and theatre. Textile artist Ann Goddard and installation artist Jessica Stockholder combine different working processes in their artwork.
Research appropriate sources and create work based on your own interpretation of Working
Many artists, craftspeople and designers are inspired by human, animal, marine and plant habitats. John Bratby painted domestic habitats. Catrin Mostyn Jones' ceramics and jewellery are inspired by marine habitats. Nick Brandt's photographic series 'Inherit the Dust' documents the effect of human intervention on animal habitats and Tom Eckersley has designed posters for 'The World Wide Fund for Nature' about the impact of climate change on habitats. Édith Meusnier makes textile installations that interact with plant and animal habitats and Moshe Safdie designed housing in his 'Habitat 67' project.
Research appropriate sources and create your own work based on Habitats.
Busy crowded streets, eerie empty rooms, closed-in spaces and open spaces that seem to go on and on, explore spaces in art.
The theme Spaces can be interpreted in many ways. Refer to appropriate sources and develop your own interpretation of Spaces, or respond to one of the following:
(a) crowded spaces
(b) enclosed or open spaces
(c) 'Spaces': A new arts centre providing studios, a gallery and performance areas, is inviting designs to promote the centre's facilities.


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curriculum vitae
Here is a shorter version of a current CV: Condensed CV 2014
bec massey
Festival/Community Work
– Organisation and preparation of workshop materials
– Conducting and supervising lantern workshops in schools and with community groups
– Design and construction of feature lanterns
– Participation and performance in various festivals and parades
– Construction and manipulation of shadow puppets and backpack puppets.
– Organising bookings and liaising with schools and other Community Groups.
– Team coordination and supervision
– Construction of fire effects
– Facilitating workshops through to performance in festivals/parades
– Transport/Logistics
– Time Management – Prioritising Tasks
– Lateral Thinking/ Forward Planning
– Ability to work with diverse demographic of people
employment herstory:
2012 January/February
Fringe World (Perth, WA)
Production crew for bump in, Bartendress during festival, pack down post festival.
December 2011/January 2012
Woodford Folk Festival (Woodford, QLD)
Production Crew/Volunteer Liaison for Farewell Ceremony.
AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things (Perth WA)
http://www.awesomearts.com/festival Production crew for bump in.
Worked with Polyglot on Sticky Maze.
Lismore Lantern Parade (Lismore, NSW)
Core Production Crew. Eighth consecutive year. Built feature parade lantern (Scrap Boy). Responsible for transport/logistics on Show Day.
Private Lantern Commission
Several pod lanterns were created and installed in on location for a music video clip.
Ord Valley Muster (Kununurra, WA)
Three week artist residency. A Boab Tree feature lantern was created to then go 'On Tour' to various events throughout the Muster. Smaller lanterns were made with the community, culminating in a lantern parade as part of the closing Street Party.
Role: Project Manager, Facilitator, Artist, Organiser.
Fairbridge Folk Festival (Pinjarra, WA)
Second consecutive year of facilitating lantern-making workshops, as well as managing a lantern parade through Fairbridge as part of Saturday evening's festivities. Role: Project Manager, Facilitator, Artist.
Joondalup Street Parade (Joondalup, WA)
Second consecutive year working as an independent artist/float maker. Constructed two large flying pig puppets for the annual Street Parade as part of Joondalup Festival.
Role: Project Manager, Artist, Organiser.
Keela Dreaming Festival (Kellerberrin, WA)
February and March saw this little carrot venturing into the Wheatbelt to work on Keela Dreaming, the biennial indigenous festival held in Kellerberrin. Lanterns and costumes were produced through a series of workshops facilitated in local schools. Works produced became part of a large-scale outdoor spectacle with pyrotechnics, large-scale puppetry and children performing.
Woodford Folk Festival (Woodford, Queensland) www.woodfordfolkfestival.com
Have attended Woodford Folk Festival since 2004, working as an artist/performer with
LightnUp. Highlights have been performing at the opening ceremony 04-07 and working as a puppeteer in '…before a duck' puppet show in 2007.
October – Desert Red Earth Arts Festival – (Karratha, WA)
Carried out a two-week residency, during which close to two hundred lanterns were made in a series of workshops with the community. In addition to this, two feature lanterns were made for the Lantern Parade that was part of the Karratha Community Celebration. Role: Project Manager, Facilitator, Artist.
September – Tulip Time – (Bowral, NSW)
Worked with LightnUp, assisting in a series of Lantern Making Workshops that culminated in a Parade to celebrate 50 Years of Tulip Time in Bowral. Role: Facilitator.
Moorambilla Festival (Coonamble, Far Western New South Wales) http://www.moorambilla.com
Completed a two week residency. Worked with two other artists Louise Marne (indigenous weaving artist) and Cate McCarthy (visual/multimedia artist) to create installations exploring the themes of journeys and coming home. Installations were collectively called What Baggage? and incorporated woven dilly bags, suitcase art, origami paper brolgas and projections. A festival that unites both regional and metropolitan, adults and children and facilitates the co-creation of a performance of auditory and visual excellence. Role: Facilitator, Projection Artist.
August / September – Mosman Park Public School (Artist in Residence)
Co-Facilitated the creation of four large Junk Sculptures with 250 children in two days. Roles included facilitator, artist and crowd control.
June – Lismore Lantern Parade (Lismore, NSW) 2003 – 2010
Have worked in varying capacities for the last seven years with LightnUp, co creators of Lismore Lantern Parade. As a core crew member, her roles included facilitator, artist, organiser, performer, supervising and coordinating small groups, school workshops coordinator (06/07) and community lantern project coordinator (08).
April – Fairbridge Folk Festival (Pinjarra, WA) http://www.fairbridgefestival.com.au/prog_workshops.html
Facilitated a number of workshops making lanterns, as well as building/facilitating feature lanterns to be paraded through Fairbridge as part of Saturday evening's festivities. Role: Project Manager, Facilitator, Artist, Organiser.
March –Joondalup Street Parade (Joondalup, WA)
Worked as an independent artist and constructed two large-scale puppets in the form of a Moon Goddess and a Sun God for the annual Street Parade as part of Joondalup Festival. Role: Project Manager, Artist, Organiser.
November Onwards – Red Feathers and a Hula Skirt http://redfeathersandahulaskirt.com.au/
Have been working with Red Feathers in a number of capacities since November 2009. Roles have included consignment artist, workshop facilitator and retail assistant which encompasses stock rotation, cash handling and customer service.
December – Carols on Norton (Leichhardt, NSW) http://www.espressochorus.com.au
Three week residency in Leichhardt Sydney, two weeks of which included facilitating lantern making workshops in the lead up to Carols on Norton, an annual choral event featuring Leichhardt Espresso Chorus.
October – Northbridge Piazza
In conjunction with The Song Room, facilitated a lantern parade with children from Tuart Hill PS for the Grand Opening of the Northbridge Piazza.
September – Moorambilla Festival (Coonamble, Far Western New South Wales) http://www.moorambilla.com
I have been involved with Moorambilla Festival for four consecutive years, this year returning to teach the local children to sew as they recorded their hopes and dreams onto fabric squares. These were then digitally photographed and turned into a slide show to become part of a light installation projected onto the local catholic church. The fabric squares were also sewn into Tibetan style prayer flags and returned to all the schools who were involved. Role: Project manager, artist, organiser, facilitator.
August – Australian Red Cross – Volunteer
Began volunteer work at my local Red Cross Op Shop. Duties include stock rotation, front of house, customer relations and cash handling.
August – The Song Room http://www.thesongroom.org,au
Began work with The Song Room, an Australia wide organization who provides creative opportunities to disadvantaged children. Working as a relief Teaching artist.
June – Lismore Lantern Parade (Lismore, New South Wales)
Traveled across Australia to work on the parade that started my journey on this path. Over two weeks, I designed, constructed and built four large illuminated gate ways through which large numbers of people passed through on their way to the finale show. Main roles included artist, facilitator and coordinator.
April – Yalgoo School Holiday Program (Yalgoo, WA)
Three artists travelled to Yalgoo, a small town located 220 kilometres inland of Geraldton to run workshops for the school holidays. During that week, we ran workshops in our respective areas of expertise, including hula-hoop making, puppet making, stilt- walking, making poi and lanterns. The end of the week culminated in the children and adults taking to the streets with a parade of lanterns, stilt-walkers and large-scale puppets.
– Fairbridge Festival (Pinjarra, WA)
Co-facilitating lantern making workshops over two days culminating in a parade through the festival.
– Kidogo Arthouse (Fremantle, WA)
Facilitation of children's art classes including painting, drawing and costuming.
March – SOTA Lantern Workshop (Carnarvon School of the Air)
Facilitated a workshop with children from School of the Air. The lanterns made in that workshop then became table centrepieces for the ICPA conference (Isolated Children and Parents Association) held in Perth earlier this year.
Governess (Wooramel Station)
Worked for three weeks, teaching a five year old boy School of the Air lessons, caring for him and his two year old sister, general household duties, etc.
February – Chinese New Year Celebrations (Sydney CBD)
Construction of two large Panda lanterns made of wire, cane and silk for a float that took part in the Chinese New Year Twilight Parade in Sydney. Project also included facilitation of lantern workshops in the lead up to New Year celebrations.
January – Australia Day Celebrations (Woy Woy Waterfront) Also in 2008 and 2007
Project designed to bring together Indigenous community and the local RSL group. Workshop preparation and delivery, youth work, community liaise, joint coordinator of lantern workshop program.
December08/January 09 Woodford Folk Festival (Woodford, Queensland) http://www.woodfordfolkfestival.com
Have attended Woodford Folk Festival since 2004, working as an artist/performer with LightnUp. Highlights have been performing at the opening ceremony 04-07 and puppeteer in '…before a duck' puppet show in 2007.
November – Ballina Rivafest (Ballina, New South Wales)
Design of three large gateways that formed the main entrances to the festival. Coordinating a team of people on the day to construct and install the gateways.
October – Tweed River Festival (Tweed Heads) – Also worked in 2007, 06, 05 and 04
Involved in workshop prep/delivery and parade logistics for the past 3-4 years. Have worked as a facilitator/teacher with a number of primary schools, high schools and disability groups.
September – Bellingen Global Music Carnival (Bellingen, New South Wales) Also worked in 2007, 2005 and 04 http://www.globalcarnival.com/2008/artists/parade_lightup.html
Organisation/preparation of workshop materials. Facilitating lantern workshops throughout the festival culminating in large lantern parade.
May – Twentieth Anniversary of World Expo 88 (Southbank, Brisbane)
Workshop preparation and delivery, organising. Facilitated workshops where participants block printed/decorated and constructed simple backpack puppets as part of the children's section of the expo.
February – April
Puppet Caravan (various locations across Australia)
http://www.unima2008.com and http://www.puppetryaustralia.info/puppetcaravan
Group of puppeteers traveling across Australia delivering puppet workshops and performances along the way. Highlights included performing at Adelaide Fringe, crossing the Nullabor and performing at the Transit Lounge (artist's bar of Unima2008) at Perth Town Hall. Puppets made in school workshops became part of The Million Puppet Project (Guinness World Record attempt), and Puppet Caravan was an official event of Unima 2008 world puppetry convention. Facilitator/Performer
Highlights of 2007 included travelling to New Zealand to work on community lantern parade for the Opening Ceremony of Taranaki International Festival of the Arts working with Indigenous Communities in far north Queensland (Caring For Country – Cardwell) and central west New South Wales (River Dreaming in Bathurst).
Highlights of 2006 were travelling to Tasmania for the Festival of Voices http://www.festivalofvoices.com.au participating in shadow puppetry workshops culminating in a ritual performance in St David's Cathedral and construction of a five metre long articulated backpack puppet for Songlines Festival in the Blue Mountains.
2004 February – June
ØParticipant in Community Cultural Development project run through LightnUp. Shadow animation course included concept development, learning how to storyboard, stop motion filming techniques and post-production activities such as video editing.
education and qualifications:
2009 Renewed Responsible Service of Alcohol
Obtained a Working With Children Check
2008 Mental Health First Aid Course through Mindright Institute
2006 Completed First Aid Course through St John's.
2002 – 05 Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in Sculpture at SCU,
2003 Studio Prize (Kaske) for Sculpture, SCU, Lismore
2001 RSA and RCG, Mudgee TAFE.
Jyllie Jackson Karen Hethey
LightnUp Inc. – Creative Director Puppet Maker/Facilitator/Performer
(02) 6622 6333 0409 377 993
Katherine McLean Kat Traill
Barking Gecko Production/Site/Tech Amazing Extraordinaire
General Manager 0439528538
08 9380 3080


text:
Power Boxing Station Stand Gym Speed Ball Punching Bag
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You may find it's fairly simple to fix in your case to: Open the first jackpoint in the house and post a picture of the innards. You *MAY* just need to disconnect a couple of wires...
"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Electric Kiwi | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman
Bubb1ez: So why didn't Snap suggest either of these before I got connected?
Ive just tried 3rd phone jack and seen an increase to 31900kb/s. Db still showing as 12 in DSL tab.
To be honest I am not impressed. If Snap had told me I needed new wiring I would have post poned VDSL until I could afford to do so. Now I'm faced with my landlord not letting me have any wiring done.
Bubb1ez: This is the phone jack closest to the street. it is also the one i want to use. the other two are at the very back and internally they are very simple, nothing like this one.
nickb800: Yep, disconnect the two white wires and the blue & red ones, leaving you with just the two thickest wires - yellow and black. They should just pull out with a little bit of resistance
Worth making sure you keep the first photo above in a safe place on your computer to help you put things back together in a years time or whenever
"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Electric Kiwi | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman


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Daniëlle Cathari's Second adidas Originals Drop is Almost Here
Back in February, Dutch designer Daniëlle Cathari took over New York Fashion Week with an adidas Originals collaboration. With the likes of Kendall Jenner and Hailey Baldwin donning her reconstructed tracksuits, it wasn't surprising to see how quickly the collection sold out.
Now, Cathari is back with a second drop. Much more summer-focused, the new range consists of ten pieces. Proving that the 90s trend is here to stay, the designer has created matching sets of bra tops and parachute pants in bold shades of blue and white.
Print-heavy pieces come in the form of a jacket, sweatshirt and skirt while a knitted lemon yellow T-shirt and shorts provide a less in-your-face touch. A long-sleeved dress also appears, designed in a peach hue and accessorized with cord detailing.
Naturally, each piece includes Cathari's innovative take on the iconic three stripes. The collection will be available to buy from May 5 at adidas.com and at adidas Originals flagship stores worldwide.
Cathari is the latest in a long line of designers to rework retro sportswear. The budding talent started without adidas' permission, freshening up tracksuits for a school project and subsequent VFILES show in 2017. Instead of threatening legal action, the sports giant decided to team up.
It's not clear whether the pair's collaboration ends, so be ready on May 5.


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Team Lead Structural Geology in Perth, Australia
|Perth, Australia
|Date Posted
|June 27, 2018
|Job Type
About Woodside
As a diverse and expanding organisation, we have many divisions that support our business. You'll be valued, recognised, challenged and rewarded. What's more, as a WA-based company, executive and leadership decisions are made right where you work.
Explore your Woodside at woodside.com.au/careers
About the Role:
The Team Lead Structural Geology role is an integral role to Geoscience. As a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in Structural Geology, you will provide lead technical support and advice to Geoscientists across each stage of the value chain.
This role requires someone with significant experience in a similar role leading and maintaining the technical quality and standards of structural interpretations. Working autonomously, you will also help deliver technical solutions, using the latest technology, to the function.
This is a 2 year fixed-term role based in our Perth head office.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Undertake, supervise and assure seismic structural interpretations and structural fault-model construction
Provision of technical leadership and geological services under deployment from the Geoscience Function to support domestic and international activities
Deploy leading-edge concepts and technologies to deliver timely and fit-for-purpose Geoscience studies
Build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with Woodside functional and asset teams
Introduce innovative technical solutions to the business incorporating the latest technology
Lead and maintain the technical quality and standards of structural interpretations across the organisation
Maintain links, knowledge sharing and contributions across Geoscience in addition to external authorities and research both locally and internationally
Accelerate development of technical capability in less experienced colleagues through coaching, development & deployment opportunities
Proactively engage with and/or lead communities of practice delivering functional excellence
Attend/present at knowledge-sharing forums and other key functional events
Skills & Experience:
A PhD or MSc in Structural Geology
Considerable experience within a similar role in the oil and gas industry
Advanced knowledge of geophysical and geological constraints supporting structural geology
Have proven knowledge and understanding of multiple basins globally, varied structural styles and depositional settings
Experience in seismic interpretation and subsurface mapping, ideally using the Petrel software
Recent experience in using industry standard software to deliver structural analysis (e.g. T7 (TrapTester), Move)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to develop and maintain positive working relationships both internally and externally
Recognition & Reward:
A career with Woodside is rewarding both personally and professionally. We offer:
Opportunities to undertake interesting work on world-class projects
A values-driven environment where working together is key
The opportunity to participate in voluntary initiatives in the community
Financial rewards that are linked to performance through an annual bonus
Above industry superannuation contributions
Industry leading 16-weeks paid parental leave
Diversity statement:
Woodside aspires to be an industry leader in diversity.
How to Apply:
Click APPLY ONLINE to submit your application. Closing date for applications is 2 July 2018, at 11.59pm AWST.


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It's a dubious honour… but one movie above all others has been pinched the most this year.
And it was (drum roll, please) comicbook smash hit 'Deadpool'.
According to data from Torrentfreak, which provides an annual list of the most-stolen movies, Ryan Reynolds' comeback topped the list.
Several sources were taken into consideration, including download stats from public bit torrent trackers.
The site reports that pirated copies of the movie, made by 20th Century Fox, began appearing in February, very shortly after its theatrical release, with 'thousands' of people still sharing the movie today on torrenting sites.
Next up was 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice', followed by 'Captain America: Civil War', 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', and 'X-Men: Apocalypse at number five of the colon-heavy bunch.
Here's the top 10 in full:
1. Deadpool
2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
3. Captain America: Civil War
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
5. X-Men: Apocalypse
6. Warcraft
7. Independence Day: Resurgence
8. Suicide Squad
9. Finding Dory
10. The Revenant
Interestingly, missing from the list is 'Zootopia', or 'Zootropolis' as it was called in the UK, which somehow avoided a place despite being the third highest-grossing movies of the year (making £832 million worldwide).
Conversely, both 'Warcraft' and 'Independence Day: Resurgence', which were relative flops at the box office, cleaned up when it came to torrenting.
Read More:
Star Wars series overtakes Bond at all-time box office
YouGov poll reveals Britain's favourite film of 2016
Yahoo Movies UK's top 20 films of 2016